AJ opened the door and was greeted with…

  He blinked.

  Was he under a mental attack or an illusion of sorts? What in the living hell was going on? But as a veteran Aspirant, he was able to compose himself within seconds.

  “Mages,” AJ commanded, “Dispel magic, now! Support, scan for abnormalities!”

  “W-we did, AJ,” one of his subordinates muttered, “It’s not magic.”

  A support staff member chimed in. “There’s nothing out of the ordinary… at least nothing that we can detect.”

  “I think…” April added with disbelief, “I think that this is actually what this place looks like.”

  AJ frowned. Why was this particular spot so different than the rest of the hospital? This messed-up nightmare carnival looked like it would belong in a completely different Trial, not the creepy hospital that they were in. What was going on?

  “But that makes no-”

  Before AJ could finish that sentence, a familiar, ominous presence interrupted the group. Spotlights seemed to have appeared out of nowhere to illuminate a gruesome individual dressed in a dirty parody of a tuxedo. The being, no, it was the vice director, no mistake about it, finally made his appearance. AJ wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this.

  The vice director was a monster of a man, if you could even call it that. Half of its grotesque face had rotted off, so wire and stitches were the only thing keeping its face from falling off. Metallic instruments, soaked with blood and various bodily fluids, were jutting from its ill-fitting suit, but that was nothing compared to the strange, almost sentient-seeming tattoo that crisscrossed the parts of its body. It almost looked like molten magma was coursing through the thing’s veins, and just looking at the patterns shook the mental defenses of AJ.

  “Welcome, dear guests!” the thing said with a wide grin. The action was so unnerving and unnatural that the surgical sutures kept its lips in place strained, threatening to rip the flesh it was sewn on. “I am glad that you were able to make it here! Now before we begin, I think it best if you listen to what I have to say first.”

  Someone among the crowd thought otherwise. An Aspirant, one of the mages near the back, didn’t wait for the thing to continue its lecture and flung a massive wave of arcane energy at the creature. The force was so great that AJ knew that the individual must have used the earlier break to accumulate mana instead of properly resting. The air shook with the force of the attack, sending shockwaves of energy that buffeted friend and foe alike.

  It did nothing to the vice director. In fact, the wave of energy seemed to somehow dissipate entirely as it neared the creature, with no apparent cause. AJ was sure that it didn’t deploy a barrier or shield at that time, nor did he feel any fluctuations in the atmosphere. The attack simply disappeared. It was as if fate itself was protecting the monster.

  AJ didn’t have a lot of time to contemplate what had happened, because the creature retaliated immediately. The thing raised a finger and a ray of superheated plasma erupted, disintegrating the attacker’s head. So hot was the force that AJ felt the stifling heat even from his own position. Wasn’t the vice director supposed to be weak? There was certainly nothing to indicate that this creature was a formidable foe, despite its horrid appearance. What were they missing?

  AJ’s frown deepened.

  “Ah, I wouldn’t do anything rash if I were you,” the vice director tutted, “We all have to play by the rules now, and how can you do so if you haven’t even heard of them yet? I promise you that I am a fair individual.”

  Of course, it was the damned rules again! How could AJ have forgotten? This was one of the dreaded gimmick fights, fuck!

  “Don’t do anything stupid,” AJ muttered, “Listen to the freak first; if I’m right, he can’t do anything outside the so-called ‘rules’.” He paused for a second, thinking. That bastard had emphasized the word “fair”... “And pay attention to every word he says. I’ll bet you anything that he’ll exploit loopholes here, but it’s not as if we can’t do the same. Find its weakness as soon as possible and focus on defense for now.”

  The various battalion leaders all nodded, their attention now focused solely on the insanity before them.

  The creature smiled again, its grin impossibly wide. The skin around its face was stretched so thin by the gesture that some of its gristly bone and muscle could be seen.

  It spoke again, giving a theatrical bow. “Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, I do not like being interrupted. Now where was I?” He paused for a second, pretending to think. “Ah right! The rules! Now pay attention, dear guests, because this will be important.”

  The thing walked closer to the group of Aspirants, making the people in the front flinch. Yet it didn’t attack; all it did was inspect each individual. No one dared to speak up or retaliate. That seemed to satisfy the creature.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “Excellent!” He clapped and walked in front of the conspicuous wheels. “I know that you are eager to fight, so I’ll make this short. When you are in this room, you are subject to my rules, but once again, I am fair and impartial.”

  As if AJ or anyone else here believed that.

  The creature pointed at the wheels. “These will determine the fate of everyone present. These will be the laws that dictate our fight; the first wheel will determine who is affected, and the next one… that one is the fun wheel.”

  The first roulette was simple enough, it contained the names of all the groups present - the two unknown ones should be the other life signs that his allies had read. He wasn’t sure where the bodyguards were hidden at the moment, but he was sure that everyone would find out soon enough. It was the second wheel that was the problem. AJ squinted his eyes and tried to make out the information, but the words, if there were any written on it at all, were so small that he couldn’t make it out. That was concerning.

  “As you might have guessed by now,” the creature continued, gesturing to the second wheel, “This will determine the regulations that we will all play by. We’ll spin it once every 5 minutes until a victor is determined, but I won’t ruin the surprise of what’s on it.”

  “Is that everything…?” AJ grunted.

  “Just about,” the monstrosity said with that sickening grin. “But I shan't be fighting all of you alone. Let me introduce you to my assistants. Vadoom, Lady N, please come out.”

  On command, the floors shifted and contorted to introduce two newcomers into the fray. One of them, Vadoom presumably, was a hulking figure. No, hulking was putting it lightly, the thing dressed loosely based on a circus strong man was radiating might; its muscles were so compressed that they looked like massive springs compressed to their limits. Even the air around it seemed to warp and distort with its movements.

  The other individual was strange. It was dressed up as a clown, circus makeup and all, yet the colorful exterior contrasted drastically with the thing’s “skin”. The vaguely feminine form was covered head to toe with an inky black substance that tangentially resembled fire. The stuff would slosh and flow according to a will of its own, and just staring into the thing's soulless eyes sent chills down AJ’s back. This creature was dangerous; every fiber of his being told him that, and everyone else in the room knew that too.

  “Ah,” the creature added, as if it had forgotten something, “We’ll need an audience as well, to properly enjoy this moment!”

  The thing snapped his rotting fingers and the lights lit up once more. The entire room morphed and changed, and within seconds, the place was filled with cheering “fans” seated on podiums high above. It looked like all of the staff in this hospital were in attendance. Yeah, AJ thought, this was certainly a true circus now, and they were the entertainment.

  “Now then,” the vice director exclaimed as he spun both wheels. “Let the show begin!”

  The Aspirants looked nervously on, their sole attention on the roulette. They were all ready at a moment's notice to begin the battle the second the wheel stopped spinning. The first wheel landed on “invaders”, and the second wheel continued to spin before it finally stopped: it read “no abilities”. At the same time, a digital timer appeared overhead, displaying the five-minute countdown, and that was when the two monstrosities beside the vice director attacked.

  “Shit,” AJ muttered, doing his best to fend off the large individual, “The fucker’s definitely cheating! Mages, you’re worthless for the next five minutes, go to the back and concentrate on figuring out what that bastard’s doing! Don’t use any abilities though, breaking the rules is a death sentence!”

  The vice director shook his head. “I assure you, fellow guests, that I am a completely fair and impartial individual. It just so happens that I am a little luckier than the general populace.”

  As if any of the Aspirants bought that! But they couldn’t take the time to express their grievances, not when they were so overwhelmingly disadvantaged. The only saving grace was that it appeared as if the vice director was simply toying with the gathered humans. It was sickening to watch AJ’s men and women battered aside like dolls, their neutered capabilities unable to keep up with the insane power of the two bodyguards. Only the individuals with the highest Strength and Dexterity had even the slimest ability to retaliate, but it was futile. Without their powers, the situation was hopeless. They could only hold out for the five minutes and pray that the wheel would land in their favor next.

  “Just focus on surviving,” AJ muttered. It was all that he could do for them right now.

  Five minutes felt like five hours as the Aspirants used every iota of skill and tenacity they possessed to stay alive. The only saving grace was that the Aspirants outnumbered the foe about 200 to one, but even that was barely a consolation; the arena was so small that finding respite in the middle of a fight was near impossible. Eventually, much to everyone’s relief, the sound of the buzzer rang, signaling the end of the grueling 5 minutes.

  The two bodyguards stopped what they were doing immediately as the roulette started to spin again. This gave the battered Aspirants a few crucial moments to recover and consume any potions or elixirs while they waited for the wheel to come to a stop. Everyone’s face turned grim as they saw the results.

  “Oh, how unfortunate,” the vice director, having done nothing but spectate so far, said with a mocking frown. “it seems that fate has other plans for your group. Good luck fighting without the use of your feet!”

  That was when the first casualties started to arise. Even with their class abilities unlocked, having the inability to dodge or even move their feet proved catastrophic. In fact, the first few deaths were not caused by the two attackers, but because some Aspirants had inadvertently broken the rules and moved. Perhaps those who died immediately were the lucky ones, for the ones who had to defend themselves while stationary were met with an unrelenting barrage of violence. AJ felt the worst for the pure melee fighters among his cohort, they could do naught but watch as their fellows died, anxious about when they would meet the same fate.

  And for the next few rounds of the roulette, to the surprise of no one, the outcome always favored the vice director and his lackeys. AJ’s fighters endured as their mana was stripped away, endured when they were forced to operate under mental contamination and extreme fatigue, or worse yet when the wheel had given their two foes an overwhelming advantage by buffing them to the extreme.

  AJ’s frontline, the ones desperately trying to defend the mages in the back, were at their limits. They needed to find out how the vice director was cheating, and they needed to do it fast.

  And as if AJ’s prayers were heard, someone from the back spoke up just when all hope seemed to have been lost.

  A man, his features haggard and weary from overexerting himself, spoke up. “Boss, I think we know what’s going on, or at least how to fight back against the roulette.”

  “Speak up quick.”

  “The thing’s warded heavily, but with all of us together, we can influence the spin of the wheel,” he said quickly, “We can rig it in our favor.”

  AJ, for the first time since arriving in the building, felt a smile ease onto his lips. “Do it.”

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