Chapter 3: Song of Blood and Fire
The young man on the opposite rooftop had spent the entire night frowning in speculation, while Cheng Shi slept like a baby.
The moment he opened his eyes the next morning, a matchmaking notification for the trial's commencement appeared before him.
[Special Trial (Song of Blood and Fire [War]) Has Begun]
[Matching Teammates (1/6)]
[Trial Objective: Under the crucible of blood and fire, grit your teeth and endure (Time Limit: 24 Hours)]
Cheng Shi stared at the word [War] on the game description, his temple throbbing.
This was going to be a brutal fight.
Though [War] was a god of the [Civilization] Destiny, His trials were anything but civilized.
Nearly every one was pure, unadulterated combat. You didn't even need to parse the various clues the trial provided; simply slaughtering every enemy in sight was enough to clear it.
The problem was, surviving for twenty-four hours was a grueling test of endurance and willpower.
The enemy would give you no chance to catch your breath, nor would they slow their assault just because you wanted a moment's rest.
Under those conditions, the harder your teammates could fight, the better off you were.
"Please, match me with some real warriors. One freeloader is enough, and that's me. Please, please."
[Match Successful (6/6), Entering Trial]
The blood-red prompt flashed past, and the scene before Cheng Shi's eyes began to warp and distort. A heartbeat later, he vanished from the rooftop entirely.
…
The sky hung heavy and dark, choked with the stench of gunpowder.
Cheng Shi opened his eyes and found himself standing atop a field of rubble. He scanned his surroundings: nothing but shattered walls and crumbling ruins in every direction.
This had clearly once been a small town, but the merciless hand of war had erased it from the map.
A few seconds later, several beams of light descended around him, and gasps of surprise rang out one after another.
His teammates for this trial had arrived.
Cheng Shi immediately sized them up. Among the three men and two women, only one carried a great sword. The rest were, like him, showing no weapons.
"Ssss…"
Cheng Shi sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth, thinking to himself: "Don't tell me this is another slacker lobby."
The [Faith Game] only had six classes: Warrior, Mage, Priest, Assassin, Hunter, and Bard.
No class was inherently better than another; there were only bad players, never bad classes.
In practice, however, the nature of each trial created biases, and different trials favored different classes.
In today's [War] trial, for instance, Warrior, Mage, and Priest were definitely superior to Assassin, Hunter, and Bard.
The six matched players studied one another. When the burly man in casual clothes holding the great sword saw that no one else was armed, his expression soured with barely concealed irritation as he barked:
"Standard procedure, let's not waste time. State your Destiny, class, then score. I'll go first: Chen Chong, [Civilization], Warrior, Ladder 1647."
Chen Chong, [Civilization], Warrior, Ladder 1647
The reason for only announcing your Destiny and not your specific faith was to avoid being matched with players of opposing beliefs.
Although everyone in a trial shared the same fate and ought to help one another, when players of opposing faiths were matched together, some gods would descend "Divine Decrees," compelling their followers to commit underhanded acts against their ideological enemies before the trial ended.
Countless lives had been lost to this in the six months since the game began, so players nowadays couldn't be too careful.
"Song Yawen, [Life], Assassin, Ladder 1636. Bro, you're an Order Knight? I think I've seen this sword on other Order Knights before, it's a Shield-Sword, right?"
The tall, thin young man in athletic wear and glasses standing beside Chen Chong spoke second. After finishing, he scrutinized the great sword in Chen Chong's hand, seemingly comparing it against one in his memory.
Song Yawen, [Life], Assassin, Ladder 1636
Chen Chong, his faith identified, didn't bother hiding it and nodded in confirmation. The others visibly relaxed.
Followers of [Order] were among the few strangers you could trust inside a trial.
They followed the will of [Order], respected the rules, and disciplined themselves. They were the most sought-after teammates in the entire game, bar none.
Order Knights, as Warriors who worshipped [Order], were the most reliable assets you could have in a [War] trial.
Dependable and devastatingly effective.
"Xia Wan, [Life], Hunter, Ladder 1519."
For some reason, the order of introductions had shifted clockwise. The short-haired beauty to Song Yawen's left, dressed in a camo short-sleeve and black shorts, introduced herself in a voice stripped of all warmth.
Her frame was tall and athletic rather than slender; even through her clothes, the defined muscles on her upper arms were plainly visible.
Xia Wan, [Life], Hunter, Ladder 1519
Hearing that a fellow Destiny companion was in the trial, Song Yawen grinned and nodded in acknowledgment.
To Xia Wan's left was another woman, shorter and slightly pudgy with baby fat.
She wore a black turtleneck and white athletic pants, swathing herself from neck to toe, leaving only her face exposed.
"Nangong, [Corruption], Priest, Ladder 1396."
Nangong, [Corruption], Priest, Ladder 1396
The moment the word [Corruption] left her mouth, the expressions of the two [Life] followers darkened.
[Life] and [Corruption] were directly opposed Destinies.
Song Yawen shot Nangong a wary, unfriendly glance.
Xia Wan remained motionless, her face as cold as ever, though her sidelong gaze carried an unmistakable edge of scrutiny.
Nangong felt equally miserable. Two of the first three teammates were from her opposing Destiny, and she still had to survive this trial for an entire day. All she could do now was pray that the gods these two worshipped weren't directly opposed to her own.
Opposing Destinies bred unease, but opposing faiths could get people killed.
Next was Cheng Shi's turn. He glanced at Nangong beside him, and a smile loaded with hidden meaning suddenly spread across his face.
"Cheng Shi, [Life], Priest, Ladder 1501."
"?"
"Cheng Shi"
The moment those words landed, reactions split across the group.
The pleased ones were naturally the two fellow [Life] Destiny members. The only one dismayed was Nangong, whose face turned frightfully sour.
Sensing the deteriorating atmosphere, Chen Chong furrowed his brow and issued a sharp reminder:
"Faith disputes wait until the end. Twenty-four hours is a long time. We survive first, then settle everything else."
Song Yawen, with plenty of allied Destiny members present, just chuckled. Xia Wan maintained her usual frozen mask. Cheng Shi was perfectly content to watch the drama unfold. Nangong kept her head down in silence.
Only the last player, who hadn't yet introduced himself, cast a peculiar glance at Cheng Shi, his demeanor difficult to read.
"Cao Sansui, [Existence], Mage, Ladder 1906."
Cao Sansui, [Existence], Mage, Ladder 1906
"How much???"
When that score dropped, everyone collectively sucked in a breath.
The others all felt like they'd latched onto a powerhouse. Only Cheng Shi clicked his tongue against his teeth, his face contorting as though suffering from acute constipation.
"Tch, [Existence], huh…"
Chen Chong's expression brightened considerably. He raised an eyebrow and asked with a grin:
"Memory Traveler or Time Walker?"
"Memory Traveler" was the term for Mages who worshipped [Memory], while "Time Walker" referred to Mages who worshipped [Time]. Under the [Existence] Destiny, there were only these two gods.
Among the six present, no one shared Cao Sansui's opposing Destiny, so he was free to state his identity outright to help the team coordinate.
He didn't answer immediately, though. Instead, he pondered for a moment, his peripheral vision sweeping past Cheng Shi several times, studying him repeatedly. Only after failing to glean anything did he relent:
"Time slips through the cracks; I too am as the wind."
That was the prayer of [Time] followers.
He was a Time Walker. True to the name, players of this class could manipulate time itself.
Hearing that a Time Walker was on the team, Chen Chong's grin stretched wider, and Cheng Shi also broke into a broad smile.
This time, the smile was genuine.
"Cao, you're an absolute beast!"
Song Yawen, acting nothing like a low-profile Assassin, kept thrusting his thumb up. If they'd been better acquainted, he might have gone over and thrown his arms around Cao Sansui.
"With Brother Chen leading and Cao holding the line, we're locked in, comrades!"
His gaze swept over everyone in turn, deliberately skipping Nangong.
Nangong's face was written all over with awkward misery, but there was nothing she could do; her situation was genuinely dire.
Seeing a teammate getting isolated right at the trial's outset, Cheng Shi shook his head inwardly.
Losing a fighting asset over Destiny disputes was the least sound tactical choice. To defuse the tension, his eyes flickered with a glint of calculation before he suddenly spoke up:
"A dual-Priest composition is actually exceptionally well-suited for [War] trials. My intuition tells me Nangong isn't our…
'enemy.'"
Everyone looked at him in surprise. Even Nangong stared in disbelief at this same-class competitor from the opposing Destiny.
He was actually speaking up for her?
"You…"
Cheng Shi tilted his head and flashed a radiant smile:
"Let me reintroduce myself. Cheng Shi, Priest of [Birth]."
"???"
"Holy shit? You're a dude, and you're actually a Fertility Goddess??" [1]
…
[1]: "Fertility Goddess" translates 求子观音, a reference to Guanyin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion, who in Chinese folk religion is specifically venerated as the granter of children. Calling a male Priest of [Birth] this is doubly comedic because Guanyin is female and the quintessential symbol of motherly blessing.
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