Each vessel appeared to be placed based upon their world’s respective rank in the induction competition.

  To our right, the Furlooni vessel sprawled, a living mass of vegetation. It pulsated with a verdant energy, vines and tendrils coiling and uncoiling restlessly. The deck was less of a structured platform and a more dense canopy, ever-moving, ever-shifting. Seed pods, some glowing with a soft luminescence, others dark and ominous, dotted its surface. It was easy to see how they could be weaponized—their very presence hinted at dormant potency.

  Further along was the Crembori ship. It was compact, but the sheer intensity it emanated was palpable. A low hum emanated from it, a sound so deep it was felt more than heard. The deck, the smallest among the lot, held an eerie stillness, almost in contrast to the latent power it radiated.

  But there was no time to be awestruck. The countdown began.

  In those sixty seconds, there was a flurry of activity. Buffs were cast, defenses were raised, and strategies were quickly communicated. The air around Nuri shimmered with a powerful aura, its golden hue wrapping around each team member, binding us in a protective embrace. I could feel its energy—a promise of retaliation against any who dared harm us.

  You have been buffed by Aura of Retribution. As long as you remain within 500 feet of Forerunner Nuri, you will gain the following benefits.

  -Any physical damage you sustain will enhance your subsequent physical attacks as a portion of the damage is converted to kinetic energy. Incoming damage reduction: 10%. Cumulative maximum outgoing increase: 250%

  -Any ranged attacks will have a chance of being reflected back to its source on a percentage basis. Base chance for Uncommon level attacks is 12%. This chance will go up or down based upon the level of the attack. Amount reflected varies between 10% to 100%. All damage which is not reflected is sustained subject to other defenses.

  Anika's spell work was more subtle. A gentle clarity settled over my mind, sharpening focus while imparting a feather-light agility to my limbs. My senses heightened, taking in every detail, every movement, every whisper of energy around us. Her spell or aura rather granted us boosts to our Dexterity and Agility in addition to the mental clarity.

  All in all, with my buffs, it was a good combination. Since we had a larger team, the shared regeneration we got through Symbiotic Healing was pretty impressive. Thanks to having two Rare class holders my HP regeneration was now over 1500 per hour.

  After making sure that Shield for All, Symbiotic Healing, Inspiring Presence, and Immobile Damage were all running, I cast Bane-Boon on the team. We were as ready as we could be, and then the race began.

  The nebula's glow intensified, almost blinding in its brilliance, then dimmed, only to brighten again. It was a celestial dance, a rhythmic oscillation of light and darkness. The crowd in the stadium suddenly became even louder. I had one absent thought, that no sponsors had reached out to our team. At least, not that I knew of. Did they know something about our chances that I didn’t know?

  And then, with a burst of energy that resonated through space itself, the race began. Such thoughts would have to wait for later.

  Each ship jolted to life, their respective powers propelling them forward. The sound was a cacophony of roars, hums, and rustles. The elven ship moved with a fluid grace, the wooden structure undulating like a creature of the deep. The Furlooni's vessel surged with a rush of green, vines reaching forward as if to pull it ahead. Our ship responded with raw power, engines roaring to life, propelling us forward with a burst of speed. The Crembori ship moved almost silently, its speed deceptive, its path a shadowy streak in the nebula's glow.

  The track ahead was a twist of turns, loops, and obstacles, a test not just of speed but of skill and strategy. Ships darted and weaved, their crews working in tandem, pushing their vessels to their limits.

  By the time the first lap was over, it was clear that the Crembori had done as they’d said. They focused on defense and just staying alive. Their ship was already in fourth place. The elves were pulling ahead of us, so they must have put more into speed than we did, but the Furlooni ship wasn’t trailing far behind us.

  Then, just as we completed that initial lap, the first attack was launched. I only had an instant of warning.

  A volley of seed pods from the Furlooni ship shot towards us, their trajectory clear and threatening. I was glad for the simulations which had shown us just how dangerous those pods could be. If I’d had time, I probably would have wondered how much of our abilities were revealed to the opposing teams by the simulations, but as it was, I only had enough mental focus to conjure a series of three shields.

  Each shield blocked one of the incoming pods, sending two of them spiraling out into the nebula-lit darkness, their intent deadly. One exploded against my shield in a cloud of spores, but we’d prepared for this, and Nuri used a burst of air which pushed the spores back long enough for our ship to have flown past it.

  That was one successful defense, but we had to make a hundred laps or something like 5000 miles in the next three hours. I could already feel the tension building. The race was not simply a test of speed. If it was that simple then we wouldn’t be here. Rather, like everything else the system imposed, this was a life and death struggle. Wits and strategy were going to be important though, as each team had limited resources and were stuck going around the same track.

  The nebula provided a dreamscape backdrop, making every explosion of light and energy more pronounced. Each ship's aura flared with its respective magical energies, illuminating the track with waves of color. The ebb and flow of light and dark mirrored the dramatic turns of the race.

  As the laps progressed, the elven ship continued to impress with its speed and fluidity. The wooden tendrils on its sides occasionally reached out, wrapping around floating obstacles, and using them as a slingshot to propel themselves forward. The ethereal glow of their ship pulsed rhythmically, signaling the casting of spells or the activation of onboard abilities.

  It was quickly becoming apparent that we weren’t going to be able to simply play defense. If we did, the elves would pull too far ahead, and Earth desperately needed the points from this victory to maintain third place. Becoming a dungeon world was going to be hard enough, but being fourth or fifth place was a death sentence for the entire world.

  In contrast to the elves who seemed content to simply focus on speed, the Furlooni ship was relentless. After their initial attack on us, they focused their aggression on the Crembori ship.

  More seed pods were launched, this time glowing bright red. As they made contact, they latched onto the metallic exterior, pulsating menacingly. They almost seemed like bombs but with a pulse rather than a tick tock. Whatever energy they were imbued with, the Crembori were attempting to clear them off as quickly as possible.

  We had to make strategic choices. Our alliance called for us to help protect the Crembori, but we didn’t have to give up the race to do so. Then Anika called out. “Hold on everyone.”

  With that, we hopped lanes. Getting a ship this size to move like that was impressive enough, but there was something so intense about leaping over that tiny void between the lanes.

  The Furlooni were too close behind us and then Anika slowed the ship down. In an instant, the Furloon ship started trying to make the same leap. Vines whipped out trying to secure their own jump. They clearly hadn’t practiced this maneuver as much as we had and as I was learning ability and practice were not the same thing.

  They finally managed to make the jump, but it caused their ship to wobble and almost spin off, so that they didn’t just jump the one lane but managed to get into the first lane, the same one as their elven allies were racing around in. Of course, the elves were far ahead of them, so it wouldn’t become a problem until the elves eventually caught back up with them.

  The main thing, though, was that it gave us a bit of space to focus on blasting the pods off the side of the ship. It was a bit risky to shoot at something we thought was going to explode, but everything the Furlooni did had some type of natural process behind it. If they were going to explode, it wasn’t a simple matter of pressure or heat, there was biology involved.

  We didn’t know the specifics, but took the chance that we could knock the pods off without triggering them. Nevin launched a pair of fire bolts. I used my Mage Missiles, and Nuri fired some type of shadowy beam that knocked the pods off in rapid succession.

  We got a thank-you message from the Crembori who started slowing down even further, not that we could wait to see what was wrong with their vessel. We needed to pull all the speed we could out of this ship if we were going to catch the elves.

  Chapter 55- Weed’B’Gone

  The hum of whatever strange propulsion system was built into our vessel was a soothing bit of background noise. I felt it increase in intensity as Anika pushed our ship forward faster. I let out a sigh. This was fun, but being one of Earth’s last hopes was also a responsibility that weighed on me, especially when I thought about how I was the least trained of the Forerunners.

  "Well, it seems the Crembori are good to their word. They won’t be trying to win the race," Nuri commented, looking around.

  Anika responded without taking her eyes off the navigation panel, “They’ve always been true to their word, and you know they prefer diplomacy to combat.”

  Nuri snorted at that. She was right. The Crembori might be far more technologically advanced than Earth, but it was naïve to think you could avoid combat while living under the thumb of the system. It seemed to exist solely to create conflict, or at least I hadn’t found any other purpose yet. Of course, I’d only known about this for a week.

  I glanced around the room, feeling an innate bond with my alien comrades. The Galenians and I had become tight. Fighting for your life together will do that I guess. That and sharing in some victories. Oddly, I felt more connected with Dori, Crag, and Nevin than I did with my fellow humans. Their blue-tinted skin seemed to glow under the strange light of the nebula. It was a reminder of their alien nature, but at the same time, looking around it was almost the least odd thing here.

  Watching Dori adjust her weapons, I couldn’t help but grin. She was a smart woman, but did have a propensity for sticking things with sharpened pieces of metal. I laughed then and said, “I pity them if they try to board our ship.”

  She flashed a mischievous grin, twirling her dagger. "Not that I’m complaining, but I almost wish they would. Racing like this is exciting, but so far, I haven’t been able to help much."

  Crag's deep grunt echoed my sentiments, while his wide frame was a solid reminder of our strength. Meanwhile, Nevin, immersed in his book, chimed in with a more cautious tone, "We should strategize. I’m not saying I doubt your defensive abilities, Silas, but if the Furlooni can get some of their roots on board, it will be difficult to dislodge them. No matter how sharp Dori’s daggers are, fighting plants won’t be the same as fighting most monsters. They won’t have the same types of vulnerable spots."

  The atmosphere on the deck grew tense, the weight of Nevin's words hanging heavily in the air. I just laughed. “No offense taken. It would be stupid to assume I can stop anything from getting through.”

  Suddenly, I felt the defensive systems of the ship sound off in warning. The Furloon ship had given up on trying to catch us and was back in the second lane waiting for us to loop around to them again. They fired off a series of small pod weapons. I went to work immediately. For each of the pods likely filled with more of their poisonous spores.

  I conjured one shield after another. It was a race to see if I could create them quickly enough to block each of the incoming pods. I had to keep one hand on the command module in the center of the deck, but I found I could use my other hand to hold my staff out to better direct the shields.

  It wasn’t technically necessary to make a gesture to place the shields, but it sure seemed easier. Maybe at some point, I’d learn I was handicapping myself through using gestures, but right now, I didn’t care about that. I cared about stopping the pods. Each one hit one of my shields and bounced off. A few exploded into clumps of vines and others into clouds of spores. The trick for me was placing the shields out as far as I could manage from the ship, oh and angling them so that the pods bounced away from me. I almost got fancy and tried to bounce pods into one another, but the strain of keeping up pushed that thought out of my mind.

  I was panting from the strain just as the vegetation which made up the Furloon ship seemed to condense down on itself and then expand out. Six new pods shot straight for us. They were each much larger than the other. I didn’t know if one shield would be enough to stop them, but I had to try.

  Each pod was pulsating with a sickly green light, indicating what was inside: plant monsters. The boarding simulations had been some of the easier ones, but I didn’t think for a moment that it was a good idea to let the enemy onto our ship.

  Anika's voice was full of urgency. "They're boarding pods. Brace yourselves."

  Nuri shouted out, “We’ve fought them before. The simulations got some of it right, but there are a thousand different types of the things, so don’t think it will be all spores or thorns.”

  I was pushing myself to my limits and felt like something was happening inside of me. The more I conjured shields the more natural it came to me. I didn’t have time to examine the sensation at the moment, but was pretty sure that one of my abilities was going to upgrade or I was going to form a new one. I didn’t know all the rules, and even if I did, I couldn’t have spared any focus.

  I managed to stop three of the large pods, but with each one taking multiple shields to stop, the last three got through.

  The initial impact was rough. The pod slammed against the hull with a force that made us all stagger. Dori was the first to move. Drawing her daggers, she leapt toward the closest pod at the end. I could only assume she expected the enemy to exit out some type of door in the pod. Crag, war hammer in hand, took up a defensive stance beside her, his towering figure casting a shadow that seemed to darken the entire room. Nevin, gathering his energy, was muttering incantations. It would be interesting to see if he could manage to charm a plant monster.

  Instead of the end of the pod opening up like an escape hatch, the entire pod began to rapidly dissolve into a green mist. Even our rapid motion wasn’t enough to cause it to disperse and it blocked out sight, but we could hear a bit of movement from inside the cloud.

  I pulled out my Fire Blast wand and let loose at the pod, which wasn’t covered by any of the Galenians. I watched, but neither Anika nor Nuri did anything. I was growing frustrated with them, forcing me to carry so much of the weight. Anika at least was occupied with flying the ship, a task made harder by massive vines which the Furlooni sent to cover the track in front of us. I had to focus though, and could only trust Anika to do her part.

  I yelled at Nuri though, “How about some help?”

  She didn’t even open her eyes, but remained lost in whatever trance she had adopted. Anika spoke for her. “She’s preparing one of her special abilities. If she can get it to work through the ship, it will be big, but you need to make sure she isn’t interrupted until it’s ready.”

  Then the cloud broke up and rushed out in waves of toxic green gas which flowed over us. We were ready for that though, and all had our faces covered. It wasn’t perfect, but then again, our enhanced stats made us so much more than normal humans.

  As the gas cleared, the sight that greeted us was straight out of a nightmare. Creeping vines, thorny tendrils, and grotesque flower monsters flooded into our chamber, their eerie green glow bathing everything in an otherworldly light. Rather than the scent of rot and decay, a beautiful aroma filled the air. The center monster in each pod burst into brilliantly colored, flower blooms. Their beauty was at odds with the sense of danger they exuded.

  Dori, swift and agile, danced around the creatures, her daggers flashing in the dim light. Every time she disappeared and reappeared, another monster fell, or rather a piece of a monster. Her precision was deadly, but just as Nevin had predicted, a plant monsters couldn’t be killed by cutting off a head or piercing a heart. They had to be dismantled piece by piece until they lacked enough cohesion to keep moving.

  Crag swung his war hammer with both a staggering amount of power and the control to not damage our ship as he pulverized his plant foes with each strike. For once, his method was proving to be more damaging than Dori’s. He let out a huge yell when some of the plants from the third pod moved towards Anika and Nuri.

  I was both surprised and relieved to see the monsters all turn and rush at Crag in response to his Taunt. Apparently, they had enough of a mind to be affected by such powers. That caused me to swing my head around and see how Nevin was fairing. What I saw brought a grin to my face.

  The monster in the center, with its bevy of beautiful blossoms, fell prey to the mage’s Charm magic. It was attacking its own pod. Each flower spat out a different type of elemental energy. Fire, ice, lightning, even metallic looking spikes all shout out burning, freezing and shredding the lesser plant monsters.