“I should have learned Misidentify earlier,” Nightscythe said, slumped in his chair. The rogue was in his Loki identity. His younger appearance made him look like a pouting child.

Freya and Nightscythe sat outside a cafe close to the arena. Using his Translucent Field skill, Nightscythe saw everything in the arena despite not being allowed inside. However, he still had a million questions for Freya. She was too hungry to answer all of them, so they agreed to eat lunch and talk. She explained the skill she learned, along with the prerequisite skill everyone else was attempting to learn. 

Freya took a sip of her tea, “Why? So you could enter the trials?”

“I didn’t know they would be teaching cool skills!”

She set down her cup, “That’s right, you don’t know Meridian Manipulation do you?”

“Nope. I didn’t know this ‘qi’ stuff was related to that skill.”

“Oh, right,” Freya said, scratching her chin. She hastily took a bite of her sandwich. She had personally taught other game players to awaken their qi, thereby earning them the skill Meridian Manipulation. Once Nightscythe knew about her shaman identity, she thought he would ask her to teach him, but he never did. She had considered getting another shaman to teach him, but she had forgotten about it.

“Are you interested in learning it?” she asked. “I could introduce you to a shaman or diviner to help you. If you learn it from a non-player, you’ll also get a piece of sonder.”

He may have overheard useful tips, but having a teacher would be ideal. Plus, as they learned when Diviner Houkyu helped K13, learning from an NPC resulted in a piece of sonder as an additional reward.

“Hm, maybe later,” Nightscythe said, waving his hand. “Anyway, want to know something interesting I overheard? Well, actually, I didn’t hear anything–I was lip-reading, but anyway, that Kamdale guy said he already knows who’s going to pass the next trial.”

“Really?” 

“Yeah, he was complaining they shouldn’t even have the last trial since they know who’s going to pass.”

Freya finished the last of her sandwich and sighed. She picked at the crumbs and said, “It is a bit unnecessary to have a whole public trial when the only requirement to pass is using a qi-based technique.”

“I think there’s too much money to be made in betting for them not to publicize the last trial. Also, to everyone else, the last trial is ‘proving your worth in a one-on-one fight against a full-fledged demoniclast.’” Nightscythe imitated the dramatic voice of the arena announcer.

Freya sighed again, “These trials turned out different from what I thought.”

…

In the week leading up to the last trial, the remaining participants could come to the arena every morning for lessons. Most were still trying to awaken their qi. Daveth said she didn’t need to come, but she did anyway, with the excuse of learning the sword. She needed to learn how to fight with a sword, but more importantly, it was an opportunity to stay close to the player demoniclasts. 

Unfortunately, they didn’t say or do anything interesting. Kamdale, Daveth, and Meng barely talked to each other during the lessons. Infamous Biscuit and Heilong reported to Freya that Red Star Lightning had gone quiet in the forums. Since she had a lot of free time, Freya went back to Safka a few times to make sure everything was in order. Each time she securely locked her inn room in Corrin and only took off her Misidentify once she was in Safka. She made more potions and checked the town’s borders for demons.

The day before the last trial, as Freya and Daveth were slowly going through sword drills, another participant broke down crying.

“I can’t do it! I can’t sense anything!”

The boy sat despondently on the floor. The demoniclast in charge of him only sighed and watched.

“Not everyone has the talent,” Daveth said nonchalantly, looking over at the situation.

It wasn’t loud enough for the boy to hear, but Freya still glared at him. Daveth was right, but after coming so far in the trials, it was cruel to learn this was the farthest he could go. Freya swung her sword with slightly more strength. Sensing her ire, Daveth only smiled and easily kept up with the drill.

Despite practicing every day, the sword still felt awkward in her hands. She had to concentrate to complete these simple drills. Meanwhile, Daveth often yawned and distracted her with small talk.

“Have you thought about who you want to apprentice under?” Daveth asked.

Yes, I have. I would like to apprentice under a player demoniclast so I can spy on you guys, Freya thought to herself.

Instead, she said, “I’d be happy to apprentice under anyone. Are you taking an apprentice?”

He smiled, “No, I haven’t been a demoniclast long enough to take an apprentice. My master is planning to take another apprentice this year.”

“Oh? Who’s your master?”

“Kamdale Tolan,” Daveth said, pointing to the other player demoniclast. “I’ve heard he’s impressed with you.”

Freya suppressed a shiver. That will be perfect if I become his apprentice.