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Quest Boards – Continued"It has already been twenty-five minutes," said Auroria, pacing back and forth irritably.

"I am not going to stand around here indefinitely while we wait for your friend to finish… what even is it that he's doing?" Rel raised a claw to indicate that he'd answer in a moment, finished chewing his mouthful of Nutri-All bar, then let out a satisfied sigh.

"Nutri-All bars truly are culinary perfection," he said.

"As for what Pete is doing? It's impossible to say. He could be out doing something heroic, or he may simply be taking a shit." An unopened Nutri-All bar appeared in Rel's paw, the metallic packaging crinkling as he held it out to Auroria.

"Here, have this. Pete suggested we have a snack while we wait."

"No, thank you," said Auroria, staring darkly at him.

"Suit yourself," he said, shrugging, then opened the wrapper and started munching away. At that moment, the door opened and the five of them turned to see Pete stroll casually back into the room. Draped across his shoulders was a massive black pelt.

"Sorry for taking so long," he said, before turning towards the Quest Boards.

"So, Auroria, you were explaining quest classifications…" She looked at Pete's face. She looked at the pelt. She slowly turned back towards the Tier Three quest board.

"Did you just leave… to go and complete the quest I used as an example?"

"Yeah," said Pete.

"Sorry for dipping out mid-conversation like that. I know it was rude of me, but being the Avatar of Peasants comes with certain responsibilities that simply cannot be ignored."

"But you were only gone for twenty-five minutes…" said Auroria.

"How could you possibly have found the quest location, killed the creature, and made it back here in such a short amount of time? And wait… the Avatar of Peasants? That's not a real thing!"

"Who's to say what's real and what isn't?"

"I… that… the…" Auroria let out a long sigh.

"Never mind." Rel brushed the green, sludgy crumbs from his robes before eyeing the newest addition to Pete's outfit.

"Pete, you look ridiculous." * I can assure you that I most certainly did not look ridiculous. I looked like the love child of a barbarian and farmer. Conan the Farmbarian. Ursak's Mantle The hide of the demonic bear Ursak Vileclaw.

+ Self-cleaning (superior) + Self-repair (superior) + Damage mitigation – physical (effective against attacks up to 30 strength) + Damage mitigation – arcane (effective against spells up to 30 intelligence) Equipping the item grants the following bonuses: + 2 strength + 2 agility + 1 durability"Okay," said Auroria.

"Quest classifications. We've already discussed the rating system, so let's move on to 'Recommended Group Size'. This one is, I would hope, rather self-explanatory. Some quests are suitable for solo Trialists, while others are significantly more dangerous and will likely require a group to complete. The system makes recommendations based on the nature of the quest and the enemies that may be encountered."

"Seems simple enough," said Voklum.

"Indeed," she replied.

"I was going to explain how the Quest Map worked next, but Peter's earlier interruption has made that quite unnecessary. So, as much as I have enjoyed the time we've spent together, do you have any questions before I leave you and return to my work?" We did. Plenty of them.

"Can a Trialist attempt quests that fall outside of their Tier?" asked Kaelis.

"Well, Pete has already partially answered that question," said Auroria.

"It is both possible and extremely common to accept quests from lower Tiers. In fact, it's the preferred approach for many cautious Trialists. Think of it as being lower risk but also lower reward. However, it is not possible to accept higher Tier quests." Kaelis nodded thoughtfully.

"And are there any penalties imposed on lower Tier Trialists who receive help completing quests?"

"No," replied Auroria.

"So long as the system recognises a Trialist as having contributed, they will remain eligible for the rewards."

"That seems pretty overpowered," I said.

"Why doesn't everyone just get carried then?" All the games I used to play had systems in place to stop that sort of shit – things like reduced XP gain when the level gap between group members was too high. Apparently Galaxy Showdown didn't give a damn about any of that.

"For several reasons," said Auroria.

"There are only a limited number of qualification places, so Trialists have little incentive to be generous or help others. On top of that, Divisions are designed so Trialists enter without pre-existing relationships. Would you trust the good intentions of a complete stranger and invest time into helping them when, at any moment, they could choose to stab you in the back – quite literally – because they want your items or because your death would help them move up the leaderboards for kill score?"

That made a lot of sense. Since arriving in the Trial Zone, I'd met a concerning number of Trialists who were complete assholes. Honestly, the fact we'd somehow managed to put together such a decent little squad was borderline miraculous. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"And on the rare occasions when Trialists create guilds and form genuine alliances and friendships that help them qualify for Galaxy Showdown," continued Auroria, "it often works out in GEC's favour. After all, emotional connections can make for a fantastic viewership experience. Romance. Betrayal. Loss. I have no doubt some viewers tune in specifically for that sort of entertainment." That sounded uncomfortably close to reality television.

My mind was suddenly flooded with visions of viewers obsessively discussing 'will they, won't they?' moments online. I glanced around at the members of our group, wondering who the viewers would try to ship. A Kaelis and Voklum bromance? A Sir Rockington III and Barry the Boulder team-up? Rel falling in love with his wizard hat like one of those documentaries about people marrying inanimate objects? Allaria met my eyes and smirked. Oh. I cleared my throat.

"Yes… that's all very interesting," I said.

"I do have two more questions before you go, though. First, when I completed the Ursak Vileclaw quest, I was awarded 50 Expedition Centre Points. What are they?"

"They are a currency exclusive to the Expedition Centre," said Auroria.

"They can only be gained by completing our quests. Much like any other currency, they can be exchanged at the Rewards Office for various items. There are simple, cheaper items like healing and mana potions, which can range anywhere from 10–40 points depending on their potency. Then there are some incredibly powerful items, unique to the Expedition Centre, that can cost anywhere up to five thousand points."

"Five thousand points?" I asked.

"Holy shit." I was going to have to kill a lot of demonic bears.

"Yes, but as I said, the items at that price are exceptional. You should visit the Rewards Office and browse the catalogue," said Auroria.

"You mentioned having two questions. What's the other one?"

"Ah, well," I said, reaching up to scratch the back of my head.

"This one's a little more awkward…" Auroria stared at me for a few moments, then said, a little hesitantly, "Go on…" I took a deep breath.

"Do you have a tail?" She did not answer. But I did learn she had claws. And that she was much stronger than she looked.

"So," I said, as Auroria slammed the door shut behind her, "what do you guys want to do now? See what quests are available? Visit the Rewards Office? Go find an inn and have a drink?"

"Hmm," said Rel.

"I think we should visit the Rewards Office. I'm very curious about the nature of these 'exceptional' items. After that, we should call it a night, then reconvene in the morning to discuss our next steps with questing." * The Rewards Office was a simple room with a dozen or so stations lining the walls. Four other Trialists stood inside, studying the displays in front of them with the intensity of toddlers suffering from an iPad addiction.

It still felt a little strange being surrounded by so much technology after spending six months living in a faux-medieval setting. Still, there was no denying it made life easier. I wandered over to one of the free stations while the rest of the gang split off to find their own. The display itself was very simple, with seven different tabs. The first was Consumables and, as you'd expect, included things like potions.

There were four different tiers of healing potion available and, after how ineffective the one I'd used after getting fucked up by the draeven had been, I was definitely interested in buying some with a bit more of a kick. I still had a few of the second-tier potions left, but I planned to give those to Kaelis, Voklum, and Allaria when they headed off to do some Tier Three quests. Healing Potion (Moderate) Heals broken bones and torn flesh, repairing internal and external damage. Effective up to 35 durability.

Cannot regrow lost body parts. Cooldown: Full effect once every six hours. Potions used sooner have diminishing returns. The third-tier potion cost 30 Expedition Centre Points. It was called Healing Potion (Greater) and was effective up to 60 durability. The fourth-tier potion, Healing Potion (Major), cost 40 points and was effective up to 85 durability.

If it weren't for the fact the Ursak quest had taken me less than half an hour to complete, I might have been a little frustrated that buying a single potion would wipe out most of the points I'd earned. And, if that was how much a potion cost, I dreaded to think how many points I'd need to buy a half-decent item. Five of the other tabs were labelled from Tier One to Tier Five. I had to admit, it was a neat little system. The Tier One items cost anywhere up to 200 points depending on their quality.

They were roughly comparable to the loot from Floors One and Two of the Tower of Potential, with most only granting a single bonus stat point. Tier Two items cost up to 400 points. Tier Three items reached 600. And so on. The Tier Four and Five items were pretty damn good. I made a little mental shopping list of the things I planned to work towards over the next few months.

Ring of Greater Enhancement Equipping the item grants the following bonuses: +3 to all stats + Minor increase in health regeneration (unique effect – does not stack) Cost: 800 Expedition Centre Points Do you know the best thing about rings? I have lots of fingers.

Silentstep Boots + Self-cleaning (superior) + Self-repair (superior) + Damage mitigation – physical (effective against attacks up to 50 strength) + Damage mitigation – arcane (effective against spells up to 50 intelligence) Equipping the item grants the following bonuses: + 4 agility + 2 strength + 2 durability + Reduces sound generated by movement Cost: 700 Expedition Centre Points The stats were great, but the real selling point was the passive. It would let me do a pretty convincing impression of a ninja.

However, as good as the items were, they'd have to wait. The final tab was labelled 'Unique'. According to the description, the items were one-of-a-kind and, once sold, would never become available again. There were two in particular that caught my attention – although for very different reasons. The first was of a more practical nature and would definitely be the most sensible choice. Mindguard of the Blackstar An ancient artefact forged by the demigod Izaldir for his chosen disciples.

Equipping the item grants the following bonuses: + 10 intelligence + 4 durability + Significantly increases resistance to mental and spiritual attacks and influences Cost: 3750 Expedition Centre Points Against physical attacks? I was a tank of a man. Against mental attacks? Not so much. If my encounters with Evalria and the Kobold King had taught me anything, it was that the gulf between my intelligence and durability made me far more vulnerable to attacks of the mind than the body.

Mindguard of the Blackstar was quite possibly the single most important item I could buy. But there was one more item that – despite being incredibly unnecessary – I desperately wanted. I'll admit, I may have let out a little squeal of excitement when I read the description. The Pitchfork of Lurus A weapon once wielded by Lurus, a minor nature deity worshipped by farmers and labourers across dozens of worlds.

Though humble in appearance, the pitchfork became infamous after Lurus used it to slay Embus, a god of war whose insatiable thirst for battle had brought suffering to countless labourers and farming communities. Equipping the item grants the following bonuses: + 10% to all stats (base) + Grants the abilities: Harvester's Recall, Lurus's Command Harvester's Recall The weapon may be recalled to the wielder's hand at will. Cooldown: None Lurus's Command Nature itself comes to the wielder's aid.

Cooldown: 1 day Cost: 5, 000 Expedition Centre Points It was… beautiful. The percentage increases to stats might not have been earth-shattering at my current level of progress, but further down the line? The scaling would be insane. Harvester's Recall would allow me to use the pitchfork as a ranged weapon, throwing it like a spear before recalling it back to my hand. Lurus's Command would… well, I had no idea what 'Nature itself comes to the wielder's aid' actually meant, but I bet it was fucking awesome.

The weapon was basically the nature god version of Mjolnir. The only thing putting a bit of a dampener on my mood was the points cost… If I wanted to buy The Pitchfork of Lurus, Mindguard of the Blackstar, Silentstep Boots, and as many Rings of Greater Enhancement as possible, I'd need to earn at least 10, 000 Expedition Centre Points. Shit… I was going to be a busy boy.