“This is insane.” Rupiniax was on his feet, eyes glued to Mayhew’s screen.  “He shouldn’t be confronting D Grades this early in Phase Three.  I’ve seen the Artifact Retrieval calibrations; these should be reserved for the last third of the sector.  Hell, the difficulty of that encounter would have been appropriate for a later round of Arena Combat.”

Suierrillax agreed, though she didn’t say anything.  She simply nodded and took notes, watching as Kyle limped away from the body of the D Grade fish.  He struggled far more than she thought he would, a testament to the enhanced difficulty.  She’d hoped her warning would have circumvented the problem entirely, but it was clear now that whoever was behind the irregularities had multiple layers of contingencies.

“Do you think his Death Field was stopped by the creature somehow?  Maybe it doesn’t work against D Grades?”  Rupiniax asked. 

“I don’t know.  The encounter felt off to me, but I don’t have any idea what means the fish had available to it.”

“Maybe I’ll ask him when he’s back.  I’m already getting preparations together for an early return.”

“You shouldn’t,” Suierrillax said.  “If there’s one thing we should know about Kyle – Mayhew – it’s that he’s stubborn.  I doubt he’ll leave early.”  She tried to cover the slip, but the other skrell noticed, eliciting a smirk.

“You have a soft spot for him,” Rupiniax said with a snort.  “I don’t blame you, but if he’s been injured this badly after an encounter like this, there’s not much chance for him to accomplish more.  I’ve looked at the schematics for this planet, and it’s not great.”

Rupiniax pulled up a projection on his nav bracelet, and Suierrillax read it through.  This entire planet had been removed from Practicum circulation due to mounting danger posed by both the environment and the fauna.  She had to control her reaction upon seeing the expected values of the artifacts.  Virtually all the peripheral zones carried near-worthless items.  Even if he cleared them all out, his scoring would be middling. 

Items of real value were far more plentiful in the city’s heart, and if Kyle’s first encounter was any indication, he’d be a dead man walking if he so much as set foot inside.  She sighed as she looked away, prompting Rupiniax to close the projection.  “You see?  He’s not stupid, he’ll understand.  He’ll get an opportunity to reapply, and when there’s no risk of him upstaging Arhades things should get back to normal.”

“What does Arhades have to do with it?”

Rupiniax looked around conspiratorially before leaning in, voice low.  “The events of Phase Two drew a lot of attention to Mayhew’s performance, and I heard the twins caught wind of it.  If the rumors are true, this came directly from them to make sure he remembered his place, and to send a message to anybody interfering to make him look better than he is.”

“The Archdrake Supremacy would never have allowed something like that to happen of their own volition!  It wasn’t a planned event.”

“As if that matters to a couple of B Grades,” Rupiniax scoffed.  “By the way, don’t let anybody know I showed you those reports.  Not strictly supposed to have access.”

Suierrillax nodded, looking at Mayhew sitting cross-legged at the entrance.  Satisfied that he was stable, she pulled up the feeds from the other applicants.  Kyle was in the worst condition by a wide margin, with everybody else putting up admirable performances. 

The most popular choice by far was Arena Combat, and across the board the first rounds of opponents were dispatched without trouble.  The difficulty would start ramping up with tomorrow’s rounds, with the battles designed more to show endurance and problem solving rather than simple combat power. 

The ability to properly regulate power output and engage in prolonged conflicts was critical to both Mercenary and Security functions, and in that regard both Arhades and Tillienne were exceptional.  Neither of them had used as much as a skill, with Tillienne actually fighting barehanded so far.  Many of the proctors were glued to those screens, preferring the action-oriented nature of the engagements.

Defend Position was the least interesting, with the few participants still shoring up defenses.  Each area they were in had a variety of defense mechanisms that they could activate, which in addition to understanding the E Grade forces at their disposal meant the real action would start in several more hours.  Jax was the applicant getting the most attention at this point, demonstrating more confidence than earlier in his Practicum.  His assigned proctor was a phytan, swirling in the air with pride. 

Suierrillax couldn’t fault the feeling.  Of all the applicants he may have shown the most personal growth.  It was widely understood that individual development was foundational in finding a good spot in the Guilds.  Any and all offers involved were an investment, and the Guilds weren’t typically interested in bringing people on who would be stagnant.  Even if their power eventually hit a plateau, the right mindset could allow for potential decades more improvement.

There were outliers, such as Arhades, that so far hadn’t gotten pushed to their limits during the Practicum, but the vast majority were forced to adapt and demonstrate flexibility in their approaches.  In some ways, that concerned Suierrillax when she thought about Mayhew.  Not only was he facing open antagonism from the Guild power structure, his personal achievements had been largely overshadowed by the circumstances surrounding his Practicum.  What would that mean for his placement?

She was drawn away from her train of thought as an explosion rang out, followed by cheering from one of the other Arena Combat screens.  She glanced over as a muscular reptilian activated a series of mana-infused strikes, causing his opponents to explode in flame.  The attacks were visually impressive, though she just sighed and turned back to Mayhew’s screen.  Using big attacks this early was simply a sign of inexperience, at least in her view.

~~~

Kyle stretched, testing his range of motion.  The damage from the battle with the fish had been painful to heal, and he wanted to make sure that everything recovered appropriately.  “Is there any damage lingering that you’re seeing, C.H.A.D.D.?”

[NOTHING MEANINGFUL, DR. MAYHEW.  THE CRACKED BONES SEEM TO HAVE MENDED NICELY.]

“Thanks, C.H.A.D.D.”  Kyle said, finishing his stretches before settling on the platform with crossed legs.  “I’m going to see if I can get to the bottom of the episode I had.  If anything big starts happening, please yell for me.”

The drone was silent for a moment, before speaking softly.  [IS THIS WISE, DR. MAYHEW?]

“What do you mean?”

[THE LOCAL FAUNA ARE DANGEROUS ENOUGH TO POSE A MATERIAL THREAT TO YOU, YOUR BODY IS GOING THROUGH SOME TYPE OF CHANGE, AND THE ENVIRONMENT ITSELF SEEMS PARTICULARLY DISADVANTAGEOUS FOR YOU.  IT SEEMS AS THOUGH THE PRUDENT DECISION WOULD BE TO RETREAT, REFLECT, AND REAPPLY ANOTHER TIME FOR MORE FAVORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES.  I BELIEVE YOU HAVE SUFFICIENT CREDITS TO DO SO.]

Kyle bristled at the idea of retreating, which itself gave him pause.  Why am I so resistant to it?  He thought about the drone’s words, and recognized that there was wisdom in them.  His lifespan was likely measured in centuries at this point, he had plenty of opportunities to try again.  At the same time, he didn’t want to retreat.  Kyle’s path was survival through endurance, stubbornly refusing to be crushed in the face of adversity.  C.H.A.D.D. had his interests at heart – Kyle knew that – but it wasn’t advice he could accept.  Not yet.

“You’re right, that would be the prudent decision,” Kyle said, choosing his words carefully.  “But overcoming challenges like these are how I grow.  I can’t go back to sitting at a desk for months on end.  It’s not who I am.”  Not anymore.

[THEN DO WHAT YOU FEEL YOU MUST, DR. MAYHEW.  JUST KNOW I PREFER YOU ALIVE AND HEALTHY.]

“Thanks, C.H.A.D.D.”

With that, Kyle closed his eyes and entered meditation.  He felt himself drawn into his core, and focused on it.

KYLE MAYHEW.  ARTHRO-HUMAN CHIMERA (PARASITE), SURVIVALIST.  LEVEL 54 (D)

CORE OF THE PARASITIC DEVOURER 0.4%

ADAPTIVE ANATOMY – 7/? – ENHANCED CARAPACE, AURIC PERCEPTION, EXOSKELETAL STRENGTH, CEASELESS VITALITY, INSTINCTIVE INTELLIGENCE, COVERT DEXTERITY, UNBREAKABLE WILL

VITALITY: 840

ENDURANCE: 977

STRENGTH: 353

DEXTERITY: 634

WILLPOWER: 1191

INTELLIGENCE: 1191

PERCEPTION: 941

FREE ATTRIBUTES: 18

He noticed the level first, and quickly allocated his Free Attributes towards Endurance.  Taking a page from the D Grade fish’s book, he understood that toughness would be crucial to his survival in this environment.  Then, he turned his attention to the other change:  The Core of the Parasitic Devourer had finally stirred.

 Before focusing on the number itself, Kyle watched the core, superimposed on his center as it swirled and pulsed.  The crimson sigils looked to be rippling over the surface, like magma roiling beneath cooled obsidian.  He could see faint tendrils of red energy playing over the surface of the core like lightning, a notable change from when he’d seen it just days ago.

Kyle felt a phantom ache and shuddered as he regarded the movements of the core.  Before he realized it, he felt the activation of Parasitic Resonance, tendrils expanding out around him.  The skill had changed, some of his own mana being gently drained.  Kyle watched with fascination as he saw it feeding into the core, ever so slightly increasing the pace at which the core roiled and swirled.  Deactivating the skill, he felt the mana it had drawn dissipate, hardly any having been consumed.  It’s like my mana was being used as a primer, Kyle realized.

Wanting to do one more qualitative test, he activated Ignition.  The energy around him was drawn in as he felt the power from the boost flowing through him.  Despite the shift in his internal energy, the core didn’t change, nor did it absorb any of the atmospheric mana.  The moment he activated Parasitic Resonance, the slow drain began again, being replaced with atmospheric mana as he sat.

Deactivating both skills, Kyle focused his attention on the number, 0.4% as the mana swirling around the core dissipated once more.  He wasn’t entirely sure what it represented, but he had an idea.  Other than a few of the large birds, Kyle hadn’t killed large numbers of creatures with Parasitic Resonance after his fight with the Storm.  It made sense, at least to him, that his wholesale slaughter of the fish had triggered some sort of condition, filling the core as they died.

To the extent that he was going to kill his opponents, the change in Parasitic Resonance made sense.  The faster, more brutal consumption of mana was undoubtedly effective.  Unfortunately, these new properties posed an issue if he wanted to use it with C.H.A.D.D. and the World Tree seed.  It all comes down to control. 

In that, at least, Kyle felt confident.  And if the endless dunes held more schools of the fish, where better to practice?