With the trial for Mana Feet finally complete, three class trials lay open to me: those for Arcane Vision, Bind Weapon, and Bind Armor. My working theory was that a class skill’s trial would open once it was ranked all the way up and I’d completed all the trials for the skills beneath it.

I’d already attempted the Arcane Vision trial once, resulting in me dying in the span of a few seconds. While I was excited to see what sort of upgrade clearing the trial would give me, I wasn’t entirely thrilled with the idea of challenging it again.

Call me a wuss, but once in a while I enjoyed not getting stabbed through the chest.

Might as well try one of the others then. Neither of the binding skills were particularly flashy or exciting to me, but I’d need to clear them if I wanted to move to the other trials.

I tended to make use of Bind Weapon more than Bind Armor, so with no other criteria for choosing one over the other, I grabbed the skill’s associated sword from its pedestal. As expected, it came off without any resistance.

Down the stairs, into the tunnel, through the invisible stat-stealing barrier. I grunted as my stats were reset to 10, but I was well used to it by now.

The trial immediately appeared less cryptic than the others I’d been in, opening up into a large square room. A rack of weapons lay against one of the gray stone walls, and considering what trial this was, the implication was clear.

Just to double check, I experimentally attempted to summon my pickaxe, but it didn’t heed my call. It looked like my existing weapons had been cleared from my Bind Weapon slots, but that was somewhat expected: It seemed like the trials were firm on not allowing any outside help, be it skills, stats, or equipment.

There were five weapons in all: a bow, a spear, a set of daggers, a thin rapier, and a heavy mace. I was intimately familiar with using the first three by now. The latter two caused me a small dash of trepidation, though, especially the mace which was barely wieldable with my Strength set back to 10.

I went through each of them, binding them to my cleared-out weapon slots without problem.

All right. All five slots accounted for. Now what?

As if the class space was keen on answering my question, a flash of light came from the center of the room, momentarily blinding me. On regaining my sight, I found a… a blob, in its place.

It was a light green gelatinous mass, utterly unthreatening in every way. Had I still been on Earth, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see it sold as “designer goop” or some strange new yoga exercise ball.

The only thing which dispelled that image was the fact that it started to roll towards me, clearly animated in some way.

“Okay. I’m going to take a wild guess and say I’m supposed to ‘kill’ that.” It was a trial about weapons: I was going to use my weapons.

Despite the laughably glacial pace it moved at, I saw no reason to put myself in striking distance if I didn’t need to. I summoned up my bow and shot a few arrows at the somewhat-ambulatory slime.

While all the arrows hit their target, they didn’t appear to do much more than that. Right as they entered, their momentum was arrested, coming to rest within the blob. If this bothered it in any way, it didn’t show it.

“Okay. Piercing damage, no-go.” If the arrows hadn’t worked, I wasn’t liking my chances with most of my other weapons either. “Smash it into oblivion, maybe?”

I summoned up my mace and approached the slime, wary of it suddenly speeding up as I neared it. But no: It remained just as slow when I was in melee range as it had before. I hefted the mace above my head with two hands and then brought it swinging down.

The slime exploded.

Globs of green goop went every which way, an unfortunately large number of them splattering onto me.

It was here that I learned that the slime was not nearly as harmless as I’d taken it to be.

The green sludge burned.

“Shit! Ah.” I clumsily swiped the caustic slime off of my exposed skin, thankfully doing so quickly enough to escape with only minor burns. The only small mercy was that the slime seemed to smell like cleaning chemicals rather than something more pungent.

At least I came out better than the slime di-

One of the larger glops by my feet started to twitch, and I shrieked at the unexpected movement. As if nothing had happened to it at all, the slime started moving once more, rolling over all the viscous puddles it had recently shed. Before my eyes, it started to reconstitute itself back towards its former size.

Seriously? Am I supposed to do that all over again?

Would it stop moving if I just kept smashing it?

Maybe, but I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t go so well for me. There had to be a better way, no?

Not in any particular rush, I leaned directly over the slime, watching as it moved about. What was I missing?

There.

It was small, all the harder to see without my Perception, but nestled in the center of the slime was a tiny pebble of sorts. Abnormally smooth and spherical, it didn’t look like a random stone the slime would have rolled over.

Okay. Let’s try plan two?

It was deep enough into the slime that I didn’t trust my rapier would hit it without earning me another burn, so I summoned up my spear. It took a few tries to get the aim just right, but eventually the tip of the spear connected directly with the pebble.

As if made of glass, it shattered. Instantly, the slime lost all sense of cohesion, forcing me to jump back as it melted into a puddle.

Neat. Less evil than the boulder. Doubt that’s it, though.

As if to confirm my words, another figure appeared in a flash of light.

This time, it was much more menacing than the slime: A faceless, humanoid creature whose skin was formed of ashen black metal. Instead of being entirely continuous, however, bright red cracks spiderwebbed across it. I was still a few paces away, but even from here I could feel the intense heat radiating off of it.

It started approaching me at a leisurely walking pace on club-like feet, and as I neared, I realized that it was hollow: I could see into its body through the miniscule cracks.

“I’m going to guess this isn’t the answer, but just to be sure…” I shot a few arrows at it, which bounced off harmlessly as expected. Similarly, I tried to rush up to it, smashing it with a mace, but all I got for my troubles was a painful recoil through my bones.

On nearing it, however, I managed to catch sight of the source of the red glow. Hidden behind the metal was a fiery red crystal of sorts.

Some sort of furnace elemental, maybe?

Unable to damage the elemental’s exterior, I imagined the core was the answer once again. Unlike last time, however, my spear wouldn’t cut it -- the cracks were just too thin for it to slip through.

The rapier was the obvious answer now that I knew what to look for, and I dashed in to fell my second opponent, praying it wasn’t going to explode or bathe me in fire or any such nonsense.

I missed the first time, overextending and earning myself a nasty burn as my hand got too close to the superheated metal. A second, more measured strike landed on target, however.

The various plates of black metal clattered to the ground, signaling my second victory.

The trial continued in this fashion thrice more, each time with a new foe. The first two were fairly straightforward, a laughably pudgy bat with projectile spit that I dispatched by bow and a textbook skeleton with sharp finger joints, resistant to all of my weapons save for my mace.

When the light receded the fifth time, I turned to the room’s center to find… a puff of smoke?

Am I supposed to be seeing something, or-

With a matching smoke cloud, a toothy green head popped up directly, directly in front of my face. Its appearance was so abrupt, I didn’t even feel ashamed as I let out the most undignified yip imaginable, reflexively jumping backwards.

Reflex or not, however, it wasn’t enough. A sharp pain stabbed into me, and glancing down, I caught sight of a thin slice in my side.

With a bit more distance, I had time to take my attacker’s full appearance in -- a short, impossibly ugly green figure wrapped in a black cloak and brandishing jagged daggers.

A goblin rogue that can disappear? Freaky, but ultimately still something I could deal with. With a bit more distance between us, I summoned up my spear and attempted to skewer the creature. Right before the spear could connect, however, it disappeared in another puff of smoke, reappearing at my side.

Shit! I swung the spear towards it, but the weapon wasn’t made for such close quarters, and all I got for my troubles was another slice taken out of me before it disappeared.

My mind caught up to the situation, and by process of elimination, the next time the goblin appeared I summoned up my daggers. As fast as I could manage with my current stats, I punched out, dagger in hand.

The blade sunk into my target’s throat with a sickening squelch.

Couldn’t we have kept up with the non-humanoid enemies? I knew rationally that nothing in my class space was real, but that didn’t mean it felt good to kill something so close to a person.

Okay. That’s all five weapons, right? So. Am I good?

As if to mock me, a new set of flashes appeared.

Fortunately, no new type of enemy greeted me in the center. Unfortunately, a few not-so-new types did.

Furiously flapping away, two bats started to circle the room. Along with the ranged menaces, a single furnace elemental began ambling my way.

As the gimmick of the room fully sunk in, I let out a weary sigh.

Nothing but to get to it, then.

After what seemed like an eternity, the blinding flashes finally ended. Dozens of raw patches dotted my skin, the results of caustic slime, acidic spit, and burning metal. Cuts and scratches were just as frequent from getting raked by the skeletons and stabbed by the goblins.

The first few rounds had been fairly straightforward. Easy, even, now that I knew how to dispatch each enemy. Even with multiple foes, all I needed to do was switch to the right weapon type and dodge when necessary.

Of course, then the enemies had gotten faster.

Slimes that jumped. Skeletons that charged at me. Hotter, speedier furnace elementals. More agile bats. Even the goblins got harder, disappearing before I could strike them unless I reacted immediately.

But finally, finally, I’d beaten the last of them. While I’d hardly come out unscathed, I hadn’t been sent back with a failure notice. Though it hadn’t been perfect, I’d manage to win on my very first time!

As though to signal my success, a notification popped up.

Congratulations on surviving the first room of the trial!

You have been scored on how quickly you cleared the room as well as how much damage you took. To gain access to the second room, you must earn at least a B in both categories.

Time Score: D

Health Score: F

Would you like to retry?

I openly gaped at the scores, greatly exasperated and mildly offended. An F? Seriously? I knew I hadn’t nailed the fights, but surely it hadn’t been that bad, had it?

I reached back to give myself a conciliatory pat on the back, wincing as both the burns on my arms and the cuts on my back made themselves known.

All right. Maybe a fair point.

But hey. At least I got to retry this one instead of dying and waiting for 12 hours, right? Silver linings!

Think we can go gung-ho on that a bit later, though. While the trial didn’t take a real-world physical toll on me, the mental toll of fighting nonstop while getting beat up was not to be underestimated.

On the nice side of things, though, I’d had my fill of adrenaline. After that, I was almost looking forward to sitting tight and training up my magic.

Death Magic has reached level 4!

I sat in the center of my mini zone of death, ever so slowly leveling my magic. For kicks, I’d taken to casting Summon Pebble whenever my Pest-Killing Aura managed to kill another bug, placing a very tiny headstone down to mark their grave.

Oop. There’s another one. Here you go Mr. Bug.

Summon Pebble has reached level 5!

Time Score: C

Health Score: D

Better across the board!

And ultimately still bad.

It was a work in progress.

“A flower, maybe? Or what about a skull. That would be thematic, right?” While not wanting to kill off all the plants in the forest, today I’d taken from sitting in one spot to moving around. It helped to stave off the boredom, and more than that, it let me draw fun little shapes as I walked. I looked to my side where I’d rendered the image of a sword out of dried and browned forest detritus.

“I’m going to try the flower, I think.”

Death Magic has reached level 5!

Time Score: F

Health Score: B

Heavily overcompensated in the health dimension this time around. At least it hurt less?

“Woosh.” I cast Gust at the pyramid of pebbles I’d set up, watching as they toppled to the ground.

Gust has reached level 4!

“All right. Let’s try a little castle this time…”

Time Score: C

Health Score: C

One letter grade away! I’d honestly thought I had it this time around, only to stumble right before the finish line. Without my Perception, I’d lost track of one of the bats, and it had gotten a good shot in. Normally, that would have been fine, but the surprise hit had distracted me, opening me up to one of the rogues and a skeleton after that. Extricating myself from that mess had been costly in both health and time.

Just a few more times. I could feel how close I was, the motions getting faster, smoother, more precise with each new iteration. Ready to go again, I accepted the prompt to retry.

Chill Liquid has reached level 4!

You are tipsy!

I could make magic boozy slushies! Why had I not thought to make magic boozy slushies yet?

Having gotten fed up with casting Chill Liquid on a plain old glass of water over and over again, I’d decided to switch things up, conjuring some of the Springtime Spritzer instead. The first few casts had simply chilled the drink as advertised. With enough patience, however, I’d managed to get it all the way down into the slush range.

In essence, I was my own walking frosé machine! If I ever landed a fantasy corporate job, I’d be the life of the happy hour events.

Right as I was about to take another sip, a mosquito fell directly into the cup, my Pest-Killing Aura laying claim to another victim.

“Oh, ew.”

Maybe I’d save the slushy experiments for a different time.

Okay. Take 30.

I bound the five weapons, and the trial began anew.

Slime. Elemental. Bat. Skeleton. Goblin.

Each of them dispatched with brutal efficiency the moment they appeared.

The first of the groups appeared, and I backed away, waiting for the rogue to strike. From the front this time. I stabbed forth without a second thought, and the goblin slumped to the ground before it could even attempt to bring its daggers to bear.

The bats came next, and I picked each off with well-placed shots. At least while the enemies remained slow, it was best to deal with the ranged enemies before all the rest but the rogues. I’d learned the hard way that I didn’t have the stats to handle the melee enemies and consistently dodge the omnidirectional acidic spit attacks.

Bats down.

I’d originally tried to order the remaining types as well, working my way through the skeletons, then the elementals, then the slimes. More recently, I’d realized it was costing me time. Now I simply tore through whatever was closest at hand, liberally switching between my different weapons.

Things sped up.

Simple orderings grew harder to stick to as skeletons charged at me before I could finish off all the bats. A scorching elemental lunged for my head right as a rogue popped up behind me. A host of slimes surrounded me, forcing me to thin the herd if I didn’t wish to be consumed, despite the constant barrage of spit attacks.

My moves weren’t perfect. I knew that. Spear strikes missed their marks, impotently poking into the slimes. Arrows flew wide. Daggers lashed out, only to meet clouds of smoke. Mace blows -- well, those pretty much always worked. It was kind of hard to mess that one up.

Similarly, I didn’t escape fully unscathed. I wasn’t sure what kind of monster it would take to successfully dodge everything while stuck at baseline stats, but sadly, that monster was not me.

Still, the number of times I missed was vanishingly small compared to my first few attempts, and as I grew more and more accustomed to my enemies, anticipating their attack patterns let me get through each wave with only a few negligible wounds.

After rounds and rounds of fighting, the final wave appeared, and all thoughts left my head as I fell into the almost-automatic motions. A slime jumped into the air in hopes of landing atop me. I effortlessly stepped to the side, my spear strike already in motion when it hit the ground. Its core shattered, but even as its body fell apart, I was moving.

Body after body after body, gelatinous, bony, blazing, and fleshy.

A small cut to my side. A slight burn from a failed rapier thrust. A few specks of spit from when a bat’s attack had hit my target before splashing onto me.

And then, at last, it was over.

The final body hit the floor, the room filled with the scents of sweat and blood, of ash and acid, and at last the words I wanted to see popped up.

Congratulations on surviving the first room of the trial!

Time Score: B

Health Score: B

You have cleared the first room of the trial! You may return to this room at any time; however, future trial runs will start at room two by default.

“Oh, thank god.” I had not been looking forward to doing that another 30 times.

A section of the wall seemed to melt away, forming an open doorway further into the trial, and after catching my breath, I advanced.