The End of the Beginning

My friends hands squeezed hard around my wrists as they pulled me up over hardwood boards and into a bright, warm light. Anna and Artemis pulled me out, and both of them hugged me as they pulled me up. They were crying, and at first I didn't understand why. But when I felt that wave of relief and finality come over me, I teared up myself. It was over. I knew somewhere deep inside that it wasn't really, but the relief at surviving the first challenge was overwhelming. We held on for a while, and when they let me go I looked around the interior of a classic, movie style cozy log cabin, at the scale of a grand hotel. Chum was there too, though I didn't remember how he'd escaped. Good thing too, because the summoning ritual was frustrating to cast.

The walls were made up of horizontal logs, reaching all the way up in the massive lobby, which was also something like a dining hall with several long dining tables with comfortable, plaid padded dining chairs. A massive crystal chandelier was bathing the truly enormous hall in a warm light, and there were couches, armchairs and coffee tables enough for almost everyone here. There was even a massive, roaring fireplace at one of the ends of the hall. The only supernatural and ominous thing were the windows- they were tall, wide, many, and completely pitch black. There were staircases leading upstairs, and well lit hallways leading deeper.

"We should- we should check the halls. The rooms. Monsters," I said. "We're on it, relax, Alex," Hannah said, walking over from behind the counter. It really did look like a hotel, including the counter and even an 'employees only' door. "I don't smell anything. You probably shouldn't go anywhere you're not supposed to go to though," Chum said. "I think we're safe. At least for now. Come, look," Zack called from an adjacent room.

We stood up properly. It was warm, toasty even. Every single inch of this building seemed to be designed for warmth and comfort. We followed Zack's voice and entered what appeared to be a banquet hall. I mean, I didn't really know what a banquet hall was supposed to look like, but when I saw the white tablecloth covered tables, set with fancy plates and silverware, arranged in a U shape with enough room for at least a half of the survivors, I couldn't think of another word that really fit. On each plate there was a card, folded over and Zack had one in his hand. There was writing on it in what appeared to be perfect, flowing handwriting and I went over to a seat and picked up a card.

Heartfelt Congratulations!

You are one of the 1198/1000 people to survive Challenge One in your Area. Your Area is ranked #1 by the total number of survivors. A reward has been added to each survivor. Check your Journal when ready.

You are now in a rest period! No challenges shall take place in the following 72 hours. No threats are present in the Forestbrook Hotel, aside from your fellow heroes.

The clocks have been set to local time. Please check into your room to note current time.

Breakfast shall be served between 7AM and 11AM, lunch between 12 PM and 3 PM and dinner from 7 PM on in either of the banquet halls with a buffet option in the lobby dining area.

No staff shall be present until the third day of the rest period.

On the third day of the rest period, you will have the option of attending a briefing presentation laying out Challenge #2. The presentation shall begin after lunch.

You are unable to gain experience, achievements, or new traits or abilities during the rest period. You will not be rewarded the aforementioned for actions taken during the rest period even after Challenge 2 begins. Skills advance as usual.

My legs were shaking by the time I was finished reading the card.

"We- we are safe. I think," I said. "It's not the Journal. Could be a lie," Hannah said. "We should be careful for now. Check your Journals to see if you have that reward," Artemis said.

Log

You have completed the final confrontation in the first Challenge. You have gained enough experience to advance to the next level, regardless of your level before the battle or contribution.

You have reached level 15! 1 Ability gained 5th level in class Wizard gained, choice pending 1 Attribute gained 1 Capacity increase gained

You have gained an achievement: Masters of Survival (Gold)- you are a part of one of the top 3 Areas by number of survivors with a total of 1198 out of a maximum of 1000 survivors. You ranked #1 in this challenge. You have gained 3 gold tokens per person, and will be able to exchange these for tools and schematics that will help you in Challenge 2. Inquire with staff as they arrive.

Abilities

Odd level reached, Sentinel Title ability choice available:

Arm the Militia: You may use spells that create weapons or armor on 10 x Arcana allies at once when casting abjuration spells that create armor and conjuration spells that create weapons. You may use this ability once per type per day- once for weapons, once for armor, and the duration of this ability changes the spell duration to a maximum of one hour.

Ward Towers: You may place a permanent enchantment on watchtower structures. Once done, people staffing the watchtower will gain increased perception and ability to see through illusions of tier or rank lower than your level divided by 10.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Defensive fighting: You gain 2 ranks in the following skills: sword, spear, shield. When using a one-handed melee weapon and a shield your abjuration spells reinforce your shield. When fighting in formation you gain temporary hit points equal to 5 x number of allies within 5 feet.

"I think I need to sit down," I said. "There's plenty of chairs," Chum said. "Any of you get a bunch of building related abilities?" Artemis said. "What do you mean?" Zack said. "Just me then," Artemis said. "No, I got one that improves watchtowers or something," I said. "Hadn't seen anything like it before. Could be a clue for the next challenge," Artemis said.

I raised my mind stat and knowledge attribute. It wasn't as wild as the jump to 5 Arcana, but I could feel it. I felt clear and sharp, and I'd never get any duller.

"Think we should pick those?" I said. "I pretty much have three choices related to buildings. I'll have to pick one. You go with something that'll help us survive," Artemis said.

I shrugged. The choices were great, but I wasn't sure which would be the best. If the next challenge involved building a town and stuff, the ward ability would be pretty good, but then again we had a lot of people with perception abilities already. Most were armed too. And with my debuff to physical attributes, it seemed kind of a bad idea to go with a melee ability.

I took the ability that'd let me use my magic on a large group, more because I knew that would come in handy unlike the uncertainty of the building ability. I still had to pick a magic school to specialize in for the next five levels, but that would have to wait. If we were truly in no danger, then I had some time to pick.

We all jumped when the bells rang through the hotel. There was a flash of light, and then the first thing we noticed was the medley of delightful, delicious smells filling the banquet hall.

I looked back at the banquet tables and saw that the space between the plates was filled with a vast variety and quantity of food. Much of it I didn't recognize, but there were clearly curries, sauces, sandwiches and a variety of cold cuts on the tables. Next to each plate there was a champagne glass filled with an orange liquid that looked like a mimosa from the distance, and, as there were green bottles and pitchers of orange colored liquid on the tables as well, I felt confident in my assessment.

The strange things on the tables were the fruits and vegetables, not only unlike any I recognized by shape, but also color- orange sized black berries, bright blue fruit that looked quite a bit like starfruit but fractal, deep purple slices of what looked like melon. The meat on display too was often in strange shapes not directly reminiscent of any animal from Earth.

I was starving, and just about ready to convince my companions to go for it, when the cacophony of the Goblin Market jangled joyously towards the entrance, filling the banquet hall with their noises for dozens of seconds before the devil and the Monarch of Goblins entered the room, followed by their monstrous companions.

"It pleases Us to see you here, Alex Vorhal. We would have been quite disappointed in giving you advice had you died," The Monarch said. "Thank you your majesty. Most of us made it somehow," I said. "It's all us now," the devil said, and flipped a Journal out from either his sleeve or a pocket dimension for all I knew. "A small reward for us monsters who made it through," the Monarch said. "Nyahahaha! We all have them now, buddy. You'll call me Hero Klung now!" a particularly sinister looking goblin among the entourage squealed. "Behave. You are level one. This man is, what, you'll be thirteen at least?" The Monarch said. "Fifteen, your majesty. But, of course you know that I would not presume my level to be an indication of my power in relation to yours," I said. "Who are you and what have you done to Alex?" Artemis said. "The Monarch of Goblins helped me quite significantly when I was split up from the Guild. They're fair," I said. "Thank you! Both foul and fair are We," The Monarch said. "Uh, boss? Why do you know Mr.-" Chum began. "Silence, Chum. Let us not go around using names we don't have to," the devil said. "Oh. Of course. My lips are sealed. Union rules and everything," Chum said. "And everything indeed, Chum," the devil said. "I want put on plate food take fork eat food," a troll-like creature, largest among the Goblin Market said. "We feast!" The Monarch of Goblins said, clapped their hands twice and advanced towards the far end of the table, so that they may sit at the head of it, followed by the Goblin Market.

Adventurers had started poking their heads in, many recoiling quickly as they saw the parade of monsters in this banquet hall. A particularly helpful young man stepped in and told us that there was indeed another banquet hall.

"I don't think we should be rude. If nothing else, the Monarch is powerful, and we could probably use their help in the next part," I said. "If they are in cahoots with that guy you probably don't want to have too much of their help. People that he helps often end dead. Or, actually, usually worse," Chum said. "I guess that's no reason not to share a meal with them," Artemis said.

We sat and eventually the hall did fill up with other people. Most of the Guild ended up in this room, seeing our group and feeling safer joining us even with the strange guests at the far end of the hall. I threw caution to the wind and ate, drank and was merry. The drinks were alcoholic, and at that time I didn't feel like passing on them. If we truly had three days and were inside a hotel-like building where I could easily find a place to hide and recover with my ability alcohol wouldn't hamper me too much.

Hannah couldn't eat or drink, but she sat down with us and joined in with the conversation. We talked about everything except for the last three days.

"So you did a lot of sports back on Earth?" I said. "I was good. I'm probably better now. Soccer doesn't really seem to matter here though," Hannah said. "Oh thank god, I know nothing about sportsball," I said. "Nerd," Artemis said. "And you do sports?" I said. "I ran," Artemis said. "Half the city goes jogging," I said. "Nah, not for me. I did sprints. More useful," Artemis said. "Running away from cops, were we?" Hannah said. "Can neither confirm nor deny," Artemis said. "The only time I ran from cops was in high-school. I wasn't even invited to the party, I just went there to pick up my brother," I said. "Aw, were you a good boy?" Artemis said. "I mean, I got away," I said, "Probably the most exciting thing that happened in my life."

That brought all of our thoughts to what exciting things we had been through in the last three days. Which would have soured the mood, if we weren't eating delicious food and drinking good wine.

"You've got to try these. They taste blue," Zack said, holding out the blue star-fruit at my face. I shrugged and bit down on it. It did taste blue.

"What the fuck? I either love it or am gonna be sick," I said. "Any of you feel like you need a shower now that we're fed and relaxed?" Artemis said. "Desperately. I didn't want to interrupt fun friendship time, but it might be time to find our bedrooms," I said. "We should go together. Just in case," Hannah said.

None of us had any hesitation in accepting that. We might have been full of good food and slightly buzzed on mimosae, but none of us were relaxed relaxed.

We walked up to the counter. Staff wouldn't arrive for two more days, but that didn't change the fact that if there were keys or a list of rooms it would be there. Zack went behind the counter without any hesitation and began flipping through a large registry.

"Looks like we're all booked. Look for keys while I go through this," he said.

We found a large cabinet full of keys with numbered fobs on them. It was really quite straight-forward as those systems went.

"Good news is it looks like everyone gets a room. Oh, there she is. Artemis, you're room 034," Zack said.

We found her key and went through them in that manner until all of us were with a key. And we went off to look for our rooms.

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