NEXUS TRIAL: The Rise of Liam Parker

The First Reward

Liam stared at the notification floating in his vision and tried to process what it meant while his body continued to scream in protest from the ordeal he had just survived. According to the information his wristband was feeding him, reaching level two had granted him five attribute points that he could distribute however he wanted among his various stats, and this would permanently increase those abilities beyond their natural baseline. The concept was familiar to anyone who had ever played a video game, but the reality of applying game mechanics to his actual physical body felt surreal and slightly terrifying.

Around him other survivors were apparently dealing with similar notifications because many of them were waving their hands through the air interacting with screens only they could see. Some people looked excited by the prospect of improving themselves while others seemed overwhelmed or frightened by the implications, and a few were still too exhausted or injured to care about anything except recovering enough to move. The woman Liam had helped was sitting cross legged nearby examining her own wristband display with an expression of intense concentration.

Liam pulled up his attribute screen and studied his current stats trying to decide where to invest his points. His strength was only seven which had nearly gotten him killed when his leg gave out during the run, and increasing that seemed like an obvious priority if he wanted to survive future physical challenges. His agility was nine which was slightly better but still painfully low, and improving his speed and reflexes would probably be crucial for whatever came next. Intelligence was his highest stat at fifteen but he couldn't see how that would help him survive trials that seemed focused on physical challenges rather than mental ones.

After several minutes of deliberation Liam decided to put three points into strength to bring it up to ten and two points into agility to bring it up to eleven. The moment he confirmed his choices the wristband sent a pulse of energy through his entire body that was both painful and exhilarating, and he could feel his muscles becoming denser and his reflexes sharpening in ways that defied normal biology. The transformation lasted only a few seconds but when it was over Liam felt noticeably different, stronger and more capable than he had been just moments before.

He tested his injured leg carefully and was shocked to discover that while it still hurt, the pain had diminished significantly and he could actually put weight on it without collapsing. The enhancement from his attribute points seemed to have accelerated his healing or at least made his body more resistant to damage, and he realized that these stat increases were going to be absolutely crucial for surviving the remaining nine eight trials that still lay ahead of them.

"Excuse me young man," the woman he had saved said while scooting closer to him. "I never got a chance to properly thank you for what you did back there. My name is Margaret Connell and I owe you my life."

Liam looked at her properly for the first time and saw that she was probably in her early fifties with graying hair pulled back in a practical ponytail and kind eyes that were still red from crying. She was wearing casual clothes that had probably been nice before the trial but were now torn and dirty, and there were bruises forming on her knees where she had fallen. Something about her reminded him of his mother and that made his chest tighten with worry about what Alice must be going through right now.

"Liam Parker," he replied while accepting her offered handshake. "And you don't owe me anything Mrs. Connell. Anyone would have done the same thing."

Margaret shook her head firmly and her grip on his hand tightened. "That's not true and you know it," she said quietly. "I saw at least a dozen people run past me without stopping when I fell. You were the only one who chose to help even though it put your own life at risk, and that says something important about who you are as a person."

Liam didn't know how to respond to that so he just nodded and withdrew his hand, feeling uncomfortable with the praise. The truth was that he had almost kept running too and only his father's voice in his head had made him stop, and he wasn't sure if that made him a good person or just someone who was too influenced by memories of the dead. The plaza around them was slowly returning to some semblance of order as people finished recovering and started exploring their surroundings or forming small groups with other survivors.

The space they were in was truly massive, easily large enough to hold ten thousand people with room to spare, and the stone floor was polished smooth like marble but somehow gave perfect traction even when wet with blood or sweat. The walls surrounding the plaza were made of the same metallic material as the bridge had been and they soared upward at least a hundred feet before meeting a ceiling that looked like a starfield, though whether those were real stars or some kind of illusion was impossible to tell.

Scattered throughout the plaza were what appeared to be supply stations or rest areas with benches and fountains that dispensed clear water. Liam's throat was absolutely parched from the run and he limped over to the nearest fountain with Margaret following close behind, and they both drank deeply from the cool liquid that tasted faintly sweet and seemed to restore their energy even faster than normal water should. Other survivors had discovered these fountains as well and small crowds had formed around each one, people helping each other drink or splashing water on their faces to wash away the grime and tears.

"Attention participants," the silver figure's voice boomed out across the plaza even though the entity itself was no longer visible. "You have one hour to rest and recover before trial two begins. Use this time wisely to heal injuries, restore stamina, and prepare yourselves mentally for what comes next. Food supplies will not be provided as your wristbands contain sufficient nutritional enhancement to sustain you for the duration of testing. Death during rest periods is not permitted and medical assistance will be provided for life threatening conditions only."

The announcement raised more questions than it answered but at least it gave them a concrete timeframe to work with. One hour wasn't much time to recover from the trauma they had just experienced, but Liam supposed that was part of the test. The Nexus clearly wasn't interested in coddling its participants or giving them more help than absolutely necessary, and those who couldn't adapt quickly to these harsh conditions would probably die in the next trial or the one after that.

Liam found an empty bench and sat down carefully while his body continued adjusting to the attribute point increases. Margaret sat beside him and they fell into a comfortable silence for a while, both too exhausted for conversation and content just to rest. Around them the plaza buzzed with activity as survivors dealt with the aftermath in their own ways, some people breaking down emotionally while others became coldly practical about assessing their situations.

A commotion near the center of the plaza drew Liam's attention and he saw that a fight had broken out between two men who were apparently arguing about something. Other survivors quickly formed a circle around them to watch, and Liam caught snippets of their argument about one of them having pushed the other during the bridge run. The fight was brutal and ugly with neither man having any real training, just desperate swings and grappling that spoke to how close everyone was to losing control after what they had experienced.

Security or peacekeepers or whatever the Nexus equivalent might be didn't appear to break up the fight, which suggested that violence between participants during rest periods was allowed even if death wasn't. The fight ended when one man landed a lucky punch that broke the other's nose, and the injured man stumbled away while holding his face and shouting threats. The whole incident left a sour taste in Liam's mouth because it demonstrated how quickly civilization broke down when people were pushed to their limits.

"This is going to get worse before it gets better," Margaret said quietly, having watched the same scene. "Two thousand people trapped in trials where most of them will probably die, with the promise of amazing rewards if they survive. That's a recipe for the worst of human nature to come out."

Liam nodded because she was right and he had already been thinking the same thing. The trials themselves were dangerous enough, but the other participants might end up being just as deadly if they decided that eliminating competition was worth the risk. He made a mental note to be extremely careful about who he trusted and to always watch his back, because paranoia might be the only thing that kept him alive through the next nine challenges.

His wristband chimed again and new information appeared showing something called a trial roster that listed all the surviving participants along with their current levels. Liam scrolled through the list with growing unease as he realized that several people had already reached level three, which meant they must have earned bonus experience somehow during the bridge run. The top ranked player was someone named Marcus Drake at level four, and Liam wondered what he had done to gain so much experience so quickly.

The girl who had run beside him during the trial appeared in the list as Amanda Torres at level two, and Liam felt a small surge of relief that she had survived. He hadn't known her name before now and they had barely spoken, but having someone he recognized even slightly made this whole nightmare feel marginally less isolating. He scanned the rest of the list looking for any other familiar names but didn't find any, which made sense given that he had been selected from a city of millions and the odds of knowing anyone else here were extremely low.

Time passed slowly as Liam sat on that bench recovering his strength and watching the other survivors, and he used the opportunity to think about strategy for whatever came next.