Nathan's eyes snapped open and he sprang to action without hesitation, his fist slamming into the monster's stomach. He followed it up with a series of strikes, before ramming his knife through the beast's eye.

It was nice of them to let us know they'd spawned.

Nathan brushed himself off before grabbing his backpack, pulling it on, and leaving the classroom. He hadn't actually been sleeping at that point and had already eaten breakfast.

He managed to kill six more monsters – stealing a few kills from struggling classmates – before finding himself in the dome, watching as Michael fought against the Five-Pointer.

Michael was fighting pretty decently for someone who'd only begun wielding a sword a couple of weeks prior. The flaming blade continued to strike against the Five-Pointer's Health Shield. From what Nathan had heard, Michael's flaming sword did a constant five flame damage per Level of the weapon over three seconds, and the sword was Level 5.

So it was pretty effective against the Five-Pointer's Health, so long as it connected with the edge and not the flat. The problem was, the Five-Pointer seemed to have a high Endurance – and thus a high Health – and knew to block the sword on the flat and not the sharp part.

Michael gritted his teeth and took a step back, blocking a strike of the beast's with the flat of his blade, the force sliding him back across the gym floor. He moved his sword down, arms in front of his body, which was angled away from the beast, the sword itself aimed at the beast.

"Charge!" Michael called out, moving forward in a quick bolt, his sword slamming into the beast's stomach. "Fuck!"

He jumped back, his attack serving only to annoy the Five-Pointer. After another couple of minutes of fighting, it was clear he was exhausted and probably not going to last much longer.

"You going to help him?" A voice asked, and Nathan looked over from his spot on the bleachers to find Keith standing there, looking down at him.

Nathan popped another banana chip into his mouth, then turned his gaze back to Michael, whose breathing had become quick and heavy.

"He's not going to survive," Keith stated. "Not unless someone helps him. His buddies ran the moment this thing came out and they identified it as the G-3. Seems they didn't want to tangle with something that strong, and smartly – they wouldn't have survived as long as Michael has, even as a team. If you don't jump in, I will."

Nathan frowned at that. If Keith 'jumping in' meant the same thing as yesterday, that meant Michael would manage to beat the thing and kill it with Keith just holding the thing down with his magic.

Sighing, Nathan stood, performed a quick stretch, then jumped off the bleachers, landing between Michael and the Five-Pointer.

Ignoring the suddenly-confused warrior, Nathan stepped forward, striking the backing-up monster square in the face as he triggered Impact, the added damage working against the monster as the Burst caused it to stumble back a step.

Nathan unleashed a series of furious blows against the Five-Pointer, and Michael focused on dealing with his breathing, grateful for the sudden save.

"Don't mistake him saving you for kindness," Michael heard, and turned his head to find Keith standing there, wearing his robe, a blue fox amulet displayed prominently in front. "He just didn't like the idea of me holding it down so you could kill it and take the points. He was originally planning on fighting it after you'd worn it out and died. He's never been a big fan of the arrogant type."

"The hell?" Michael asked.

"Just how it is," Keith shrugged. "Letting a monster kill someone is different than causing a monster to kill someone. Nathan's a bit tired of your incessant bragging. You seem strong, but only because you're followed by others and charge in head-first. If you and Nathan were to fight – no, if you and Samantha were to fight, you'd likely lose quickly. And Nathan is far more skilled than her – that's why he reached Rank #1 Student during the Survival Challenge."

"At least I'm not an agent of the game's," Michael snorted, turning back to the fighting duo and readying his sword.

"Believe what you want," Keith stated. "But the word of one such as Madeline shouldn't be taken at face value. After all, what true evidence is there of my dealings with the System?"

Michael ignored the comment and charged back into the fight, and Nathan moved to the side, giving Michael enough space to swing his sword.

The pair continued to fight against the Five-Pointer, until a blow from Nathan not only forced the beast back, but snapped its face inward, its Health finally depleted. Michael used Charge as Nathan struck again, their attacks striking nearly-instantly. The Level Up notice and the increase in his points let Nathan know that he'd received the final blow.

"Damn," Michael muttered. "You got the credit for that. That's strange."

"We hit at the same time," Nathan stated. "It probably looked at who did more damage."

"No," Michael frowned as he looked at Nathan. "I'm pretty sure I'm not imagining it, but you look… more handsome than you did before."

Nathan raised an eyebrow.

"Not flirting," Michael sheathed his sword. "Just an observation."

"He did," Keith stated, and the two of them looked over to him. "Which is odd, unless he has the Charisma Stat."

"The Charisma Stat?" Michael asked.

"Yes," Keith nodded. "It's held by the person the System has judged the most-likely to survive and win the game. It doesn't mean they're the strongest in the System's eyes, just that they're the one most-likely to survive the game. Based on what I've seen of Nathan, it would make sense for him to have it. If he were to die, the one surviving who was most-likely to survive would have it unlocked. The Charisma stat augments your natural appearance's beauty to others."

"You claim you have nothing to do with it," Michael said, his hand moving to the hilt of his sword. "Yet you seem awfully informed about it."

"I knew of the game beforehand," Keith stated. "However, I had nothing to do with it occurring."

"Really?" Nathan asked, and something in his tone caused Keith to flinch.

"Yes, really," Keith stated, and his eyes turned violet for a few moments. "Now, I'm taking my leave. It looks like Kendra's team is struggling against a duo of H-1's that surprised them."

Keith turned and left, and Michael stared after him, frowning, until he realized that Nathan was leaving as well, making his way out toward the front of the school.

"Nathan!" He called, and Nathan stopped, turning his head to look at him. "Thanks."

Nathan dipped his head, then left the dome, facing off with a One-Pointer in the lobby before making his way outside, where he performed a lap around the building. Once he finished – there were only two more monsters for him, there – he climbed the tree close to the corner of the street their school was on and the highway, looking at the veil that blocked his view of the world outside.

Across the street from the school were two churches. The small student parking lot right there was actually owned by one of the two churches, which allowed the school to use it if they didn't have an event going on.

He had never been religious, but thinking about the churches made him wonder – was there a God? And if so, why did He allow something like this game?

Clearing those thoughts from his head, Nathan thought about what Michael and Keith had revealed. He was the only one of them there with Charisma, and it was because the System thought him the most-likely to survive.

He would've put that as Keith, after finding out about Keith's magic. He didn't doubt Keith could handle Five-Pointers on his own, while he himself struggled against the one. Then there was that strangeness with Keith's eyes – they turned violet, and he suddenly knew that someone else was in danger.

Why wasn't Keith the one most-likely to survive? He was best-suited for it, in Nathan's eyes. There was no reason he shouldn't have Charisma instead of the fighter. Not unless he had something to do with the System and the game.

Madeline being right didn't mean Nathan trusted her, though. She worked hard to make sure Keith wasn't trusted by others, and that caused the fighter to distrust her. She had her own goals. It was very likely part of them involved causing Keith to find himself without help, so that he'd die.

There was no rule against them letting others die, but causing it to happen… if Keith died because of Madeline's campaign against him, would she die, too?

Nathan shook his head, clearing that from his thoughts, then opened up his Skills Shop.

Skills Shop 3 Scan: 5 Skill Points Iron Grip: 10 Skill Points Meditation: 10 Skill Points Stoneskin: 10 Skill Points Combot Strike: 15 Skill Points Damage-Dealer: 20 Skill Points Student-Striker: 20 Skill Points Silent Mover: 20 Skill Points

All three of those were obvious to Nathan.

Silent Mover was probably a Skill that Cost Mana in exchange for making him completely silent for a period of time. Knowing how the game worked, it likely only dampened his sound by a percent.

Damage-Dealer would increase his damage dealt. He wasn't sure if it was a costing Skill or passive, but leaned towards the latter, due to the name. It would be pretty useful to have, as it would increase his ability to fight.

The last one, however, caught his eye. Student-Striker. He didn't have a doubt in his mind that such a Skill would allow him to harm other students. It likely had limits to it, of course, but it was a powerful Skill to have.

Nathan closed his Skills Shop and pulled out some jerky and fruit and enjoyed a little bit of breakfast, washing it down with some water, then waited in the tree until he spotted more monsters, which occurred a little after one.

Jumping down, Nathan charged at the nearest monster, taking its life as he noticed a couple of students come out of the front doors. He moved to the front length of the school and took down the monsters there, though by the time he'd reached the front doors again, he only located one more monster.

It seemed most didn't spawn outside.

Making his way inside, Nathan tracked down and killed a Two-Pointer, then continued searching until the all-monsters-killed notice appeared. Sighing, he entered a classroom and made his way to a corner, dropping his bag down and resting for the rest of the day, sleeping through the night.

At quarter-to-eight in the morning, Nathan made his way out of the classroom and to the nearest restroom, relieving his bladder. As he washed his hands, he watched in the mirror as a portal opened up behind him.

At least I was already zipped up.

He rinsed off his hands as the monster approached, then flicked the water a few times before spinning, delivering a roundhouse kick to the Three-Pointer's head, the monster stumbling backwards into the stalls.

Nathan charged it, slamming both fists into the beast's chest, driving it into a stall and against the toilet, causing the thing to fall. He jumped up, grabbing the top of the stall walls, and drove his feet forward, slamming the monster with all his might into the pipes of the toilet. As the thing tried to stand back up, Nathan repeated his double-foot strike, driving it back down. The thing looked woozy, which probably came from having its head smashed in on two fronts.

Nathan released the stalls and dropped down, stepping back and pulling his knuckle out of his pocket and sliding it on as the monster attempted to stand. Nathan delivered a swift, Impact-touched strike to the monster's head.

+3 Points

Nodding, Nathan then returned to the sink and washed his hands again, as well as the knuckles. Inspecting them, he sighed, then used his Weapon Repair Kit on them, watching as they returned to their brand-new state.

He slipped the knuckle back onto his fingers, clenched his fist, rolled his neck and shoulders, then left the restrooms, quickly tracking down a duo of One-Pointers and claiming their lives with a quick flurry of blows.

With those two dead, Nathan began searching the school, not coming across any students or monsters. By the time he found that the rest of the monsters were outside, the other students had already finished killing them and were watching a battle between Keith and the Five-Pointer on the football field.

Nathan joined them on the bleachers and watched, studying both the magician and the Five-Pointer, taking note of the blood on the ground despite the lack of any obvious injuries on the two. It was as if something had been slashed, the blood spraying out in two streaks from nearly the same point.

The beast was humanoid, like all of the other monsters so far, but this one was different. Not the nudity – they were all nude – but the presence of genitalia on it. It had an actual dick, and it was pretty hard, sticking straight out and showing off its full, eight-inch long, two-inch thick glory.

That'd be painful as fuck for anyone that thing rammed into, Nathan thought.

And being rammed into someone was probably the purpose of it, Nathan knew. Why else would it have that when the lesser monsters didn't? He thought back to the other Five-Pointers and their own erections.

Same size.

Nathan's gaze traveled to the rest of the creature. It had a well-muscled body, even with the deformities. A pair of horns, the markers that Nathan used to know which grade the monsters were, misshapen fingers, crimson skin, black eyes – the whole deal. Its skin looked a bit harder than the ones Nathan had fought so far, meaning it was probably high on Endurance in addition to its Strength.

The part that caught Nathan's attention was the fact that this one also had wings, which it was using to fly around and try to attack Keith, who was throwing slash of air after slash of air at it, generating wind barriers to stop the monster from attacking.

"Welcome," one of the classmates told Nathan.

Eric Peebles, a freckled, redheaded guy with a light Irish accent.

"Winged?"

"It grew them as soon as Keith started attacking," Hunter nodded. "Just spawned right out of it's back. That's where the blood came from."

Nathan nodded, understanding that it meant the wings were probably somehow a part of their backs, even if they didn't have a visibility to them.

The Five-Pointer got too close to Keith just before the mage fired off another slash of air and the beast's right wing and arm were sheered off. From there, it didn't take Keith long to kill the ground-stuck monster, claiming the high kill for the day.

The students dispersed after that, and Nathan found a quiet spot inside to rest in until a portal opened up a few feet away. He delivered a swift series of strikes, finishing with an Impact strike with the knuckle, and found himself in the same classroom, but without the monster, after that strike connected with its throat.

51/50 Points Earned Challenge 4 Completed