Rafe reeled in shock. He'd given away too much information. He was quick to school his features into neutrality though.

  “I watched the fights,” he said with a shrug. “You were using too much mana for a person around our level, I figured you were almost out.”

  He turned towards the others, trying to feign nonchalance. He kept her in the range of his racial ability though. Just to make sure there was nothing to worry about there. She kept shooting skeptical glances toward his back.

  “What do you mean at our level?” she asked. “I'm just a level thirty two. Sure, I have an epic class, but I'm probably the lowest level here.”

  Rafe blinked in surprise. Level thirty two was impressive in so many ways. According to Noid, most trial takers were at least level ten when they first entered the trial. Over two years of focused training with peak gods, and most people would at least be level forty before they started tackling the tower.

  And the lower floors of the tower had opportunities for growth too. Of course Rafe had had a special second floor, but he believed he was the exception in that regard.

  Her having only thirty two levels and an epic class meant a lot. She had such strong foundations that her leveling speed was slower than most initially. If she strengthened her foundations further she would gain levels slower still, but she would have limitless potential to improve. With a foundation as strong as hers, Rafe estimated she would have no problems making it to the A grade.

  Further building and her race would have no problem breaking into the S. He knew he too had strong foundations on top of his crippling inability to level fast enough. If he followed the list of classes prescribed to him faithfully, he'd reach the B grade no problem. All he needed at that point would be to make sure his truth grew well, and he'd be staring the S grade and beyond in the face.

  Devila had mana potions. Rafe didn't need them, but he was sure Aska and Quin could have used them. Devila didn't seem keen on sharing though.

  “Need any healing?” Quin asked both of them once she'd regained some colour.

  “No,” they both said.

  Rafe hadn't sustained any injuries. Devila had a few scratches here and there, but nothing serious. She couldn't meet any of their eyes though. Rafe frowned at that.

  “So what's the plan?” Aska asked after a few beats of silence.

  “We are going to follow that group with the demon of course,” Rafe said. “After a few hours of rest.”

  “What?!” three voices said in unison.

  Rafe found that funny. They didn't even know his true plan for the strong team.

  It was Devila who continued first though, saying, “you said we'd go after them immediately?”

  Rafe shrugged. “Yeah, but two of ours aren't in the best shape to fight. We need Aska to regain his mana, and Quin too.”

  “But why are we following a group like that?” Quin asked. “They seemed strong.”

  Devila scoffed. “That's why we need to crash them!”

  “No. That's not what I'm thinking,” Rafe said.

  The other team was strong. And they knew it too. Rafe was thinking of his objectives for the room. And if he could teach his new teammates a few combat tricks, he was all for it. Sure, they were stronger than him, but he was the better warrior, more experienced. Maybe this was what Noid questioned about the system era.

  “What are you thinking?” Devila asked.

  “I'm thinking you should tell me about the reactive force fields,” Rafe said, as a way to distract them, and a way to get the information he seriously needed.

  “Oh, yeah,” Quinsia started. “No, seriously, what level are you? Your aura skill seems advanced enough, but you don't even have a veil.”

  “A veil,” Rafe asked.

  “The ‘reactive force field’ as you called it,” Devila said. “How high is your defense specification? As a warrior you should have one. And how do you not know something that basic?”

  Rafe didn't answer her. He was busy trying to read through the lines of what she'd just said. He closed his eyes and pretended he was too tired to deal with Devila. Inward, he was reeling from the realisation. If the more one advanced their class the more specifications they got, then a rare class holder could probably not even injure a legendary class holder.

  Mages, ordinary ones at least, did not have a defense spec. He had learnt the name of the phenomenon causing him trouble, but he didn't know what to do about it.

  ****

  Devila was twitching where she lay down next to him. In a clearing thirty metres ahead, the demon's team fought two others.

  The blonde gunslinger stood back as the others attacked. He was the team's long distance damage dealer. They had a masked assassin in their ranks, the one who'd used a teleport skill at the last second . The demon was a brawler type warrior.

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  He had punching daggers strapped all over his body. He also had very sturdy skin with indentations that looked like tattoos but were more like scale armour, although they were bigger than at least Quin's scales.

  The fourth member of the group was the sword warrior Rafe well remembered, but that was not all she was. For one thing, she seemed to double as the team's healer and buff specialist.

  “A strong team,” Aska said, awed again as he'd been in the previous fights.

  Quin could only nod her acquiescence, her eyes wide as she studied the sword wielding support mage.

  The demon shone with a golden hue that clearly increased his damage output. There were signs of speed enhancement on the assassin, but Rafe couldn't be sure. As for the gunslinger, some of his beams shone with a brilliant rainbow tinge. The mage's own blades shone golden, enhanced in some way Rafe couldn't discern.

  Devila had a nasty look on her face. Rafe wasn't sure what she was thinking, and wasn't sure he wanted to find out.

  They were fast and efficient. And even after fighting two teams at once, they barely seemed worse for wear.

  “I see you rats skulking back there. If you hoped to ambush us after a fight then I will have to disappoint you,” the blonde gunslinger spoke.

  The others were surprised. Rafe was only relieved the guy had finally decided to acknowledge them. He had been prodding them with subtle aura fluctuations since his team had witnessed the first few fights. He had been starting to think the team weren't that well trained as they made themselves out to be.

  He stood even while the rest of his team were still frozen stiff.

  “Greetings, fellow warriors,” he said in as friendly a voice as he could. “Might I inquire as to how you were able to sense our presence?”

  The other team blinked when they recognised him.

  “You're that spear guy who gave us trouble?” the blonde asked. “I hope you don't think our decision to retreat had anything to do with fear?”

  “Oh? Enlighten me, if you would?”

  “We'd already eliminated a few teams at the time. We were exhausted, so we thought it would be better to move on instead of wasting our time with you. If you want to fight now though, things will end differently. We've had a day to hone our team work, and you guys haven't fought anyone the last few hours.”

  Rafe's team came to stand around him as the man spoke, sensing the threat in his self important tone. Rafe put up his hands in a placating gesture though, a fake smile pasted on his face.

  “Hey now, let's be civil. We don't intend to fight.”

  “Then what are your intentions?” the gigantic demon said with a snort.

  “Yesss,” Devila said emphatically, “what are our intentions?”

  Rafe shrugged. “You guys are strong. There is no doubt you're strong. I figured if we stayed close to you, we'd be able to escape this trial without too much effort on our part.”

  The other team shared glances as Rafe's words played in their heads. Then the blonde gunslinger started sputtering.

  “You wished to… ride our coattails. To have us clear a path for you?!”

  His artificially beautiful face was red. His chest was heaving, and his eyes were slitted. His hand was unconsciously twitching toward his gun.

  Rafe shrugged. “That was my intention in the beginning.”

  “Wait!” the support mage, hooded as she was, spoke to the gunslinger. “Let's hear him out first, okay.”

  The man turned a sour look her way. Rafe smiled. He had known there was more to the woman than met the eye. The gunslinger was confident, and he was in a good position to watch and direct a battle but to lead? Yeah Rafe had his doubts.

  “I think our teams would benefit from an alliance,” Rafe said. “We know only ten teams can make it past this first stage. You have skills we lack, and we have skills you may lack. I think the rules of this room permit for some cooperation, don't you?”

  Rafe had sensed it earlier. The battle for the most strategic position had ended. And the teams there had not been eliminated. The teams at the top of the cliff were forming an alliance. The excuse he himself needed.

  “What do you have that we need?” the blonde man asked, outraged.

  Rafe shrugged. “A dedicated healer. A dedicated big damage dealer.” He nodded toward both Quin and Aska. “And of course, the Enchantress' favoured disciple too.”

  Rafe let the other team mule over his words. He sensed, more than saw Devila turn to him with a look promising death.

  “And what do you bring to the table?” the hooded support mage asked.

  “My team's cooperation,” Rafe said with a smirk. “I might not have any special talents, but they do need me to survive the room so we can move on together.”

  The two teams studied each other for a long time. Then the blonde turned to the hooded mage.

  “I don't trust them!” he said.

  “Neither do I,” the woman said, her voice placid.

  “Yes,” Devila said, her eyes focused on Rafe. “I don't recall us discussing anything like this.”

  Rafe frowned. Sure they hadn't discussed it, but this was a good path. Couldn't she see how their teams working together would be unstoppable?

  “What choice do we have? It's either this, or we fight them here and now. I can assure you there is no way we are getting out of this unscathed even if we win. Besides, other teams are forming alliances too. This is just the third floor. Don't you want to get higher up the tower? I know death isn't permanent, but failing a room objective like this is…”

  Devila reeled back a little. “The third…floor?”

  It seemed like a question. She looked around at everyone, who looked at her in confusion.

  “In any case,” the hooded support mage announced. “I have a way to ensure trust is not an issue.”

  “Oh?” Rafe asked, genuinely intrigued. Although maybe he just wanted to make sure the discussion wasn't derailed.

  “A contract spell. We sign a contract to fight together in genuine faith until the room is finished. Even if one of your team falls and it's not our fault, you'll be obligated to help us finish.”

  “Absolutely not!” the enchantress and the blonde knockout said at once.

  “That sounds like a lovely idea,” Rafe said as he stepped forward.

  Aska and Quin looked unconvinced. He had to remember everyone here thought they were the ones ascending the tower. They might have followed his lead a bit because of his better aura senses, but they had to look out for themselves first and foremost. It seemed like the hooded woman had dealt with the same issue multiple times.

  She pushed her hood back, revealing a pale face. Her hair started out white but brightened towards blue in the middle and violet towards its ends. There were hints of scales at the edges of her cubic face.

  “My name is Andragoth. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, partners.”

  “I'm Rafael, but you can call me Rafe. That there is…”

  He pretended he hadn't noticed his team hesitate. He pretended he was shocked they had stayed back.

  “Come on guys, we don't have time for this. The faster we can learn from these obviously more experienced combatants, the faster we can leave this room and move on.”

  They were still hesitant when they moved forward. Andragoth started her contract spell immediately, having noticed what Rafe had done. He'd played into his team's owe of Andragoth and her team's strength. And he had also played with the other team's pride. Rafe found he rather liked being manipulative, when it suited him.

  He noticed Devila wasn't paying attention to the spell though. He frowned when he noticed her start to mumble something, and he went to pay attention.

  “The third floor? This is just the first floor.”