V2Ch21-Proof

“I already told a few people that you were with me at the time that the population counter ticked down,” DaSilva said. “Still. You and the girl should stay out of sight for the rest of the day. People are angry and stressed and looking for someone to blame.”

“Yulia and I will stay here together, Detective.” It was hard to even be annoyed at DaSilva for forgetting Yulia’s name. It sounded as if he was keeping them out of some real danger. “Will we be safe if we come out for the challenge tomorrow?”

“I’m sure I can sort this out by then,” he said, noticeably relieved. “I’ll tell anyone I can exactly what happened.”

“Yeah,” Mina said. “I mean, thank you!” I hope this doesn’t interfere with his ability to continue the investigation, though. Managing the strange, cramped politics of the Orientation at the same time that DaSilva tried to identify a completely anonymous killer with a possibly magical murder method seemed like a tall order.

“Of course,” he replied. Then Mina heard his slow, heavy footsteps tread away from their door.

Goodness, she thought. People in this place are so combustible. We might be safer if we could find some place in the wilderness to hide out, if only the weather weren’t so dangerous!

Even as she had this thought, she could see faint glimmers of snow falling outside the window. Their Orientation would only become higher stakes as the environment grew deadlier.

Mina and Yulia spent the rest of the day going through their various abilities and how they might help, both in the challenges and in finding the identity of this killer.

Mina’s Status sheet read as follows:

[Status

Name: Mina Danailova

Race: Base Human, Lv. 3

Class: Mage

Job: Structural Engineer (Pre-System)

Health: 49/49

Mana: 272/272

Stats

Strength: 4

Agility: 8(5)

Stamina: 6(4)

Fortitude: 7

Dexterity: 10(9)

Perception: 11

Will: 16

Intelligence: 17

Free Points: 0

Skills

Accelerated Learning Lv. 5

Adamant Will Lv. 0

Basic Elemental Magic: Water Lv. 5

Basic Elemental Magic: Wind Lv. 0

Deception Resistance Lv. 1

Defiance Lv. 0

Intuitive Aptitude Lv. 2

Emotional Control Lv. 4

Identify Lv. 9

Prediction Lv. 3

Situational Intelligence Lv. 6

System Interface

Universal Language Comprehension

Talents

Cool-Headed Lv. 5

Logic Lv. 2

Quick Study Lv. 3

Water Affinity

Willful Lv. 0

Titles

Challenger]

Unfortunately, most of Mina’s abilities seemed unlikely to lend themselves to investigation. The exceptions were Deception Resistance, which would at least make it difficult for people to lie to her directly, and Prediction, although Mina thought it needed to get to a much higher level before she would really be able to use it in this context.

Yulia’s Trace will be a lot more useful. If I can anticipate who the killer’s most likely to target next, she can track the person’s whereabouts. We could catch them red-handed.

The only problem was that Mina had no idea why the killer was targeting who they were targeting. She still knew nothing about the first victim, and the only thing she knew about the two more recent victims was that one was Paul, who had tried to assert a leadership role in Orientation.

I hope the murders are all by one person, as Detective DaSilva thinks. If there were more killers than they’d realized, then it was possible the social order here was already beginning to break down.

They spent a little more time going over their abilities and practicing them. And because Mina’s practice of water elemental magic earlier had awakened her latent Water Affinity and helped her unlock wind elemental magic, she spent time further refining her precise control of water. If she could develop specialized abilities around Water Affinity, perhaps it would make up for her lack of physical power and delicate physical condition.

It seemed to give her more experience to use fine control of the ability, such as by manipulating lots of individual droplets through the air around her, rather than just to flood it with Mana and conjure as much water as she could—which was good, since Mina still didn’t have much Mana to play with.

It doesn’t matter nearly as much how deep my reserves of Mana are, Mina thought, as how I use it. I’ll learn to use my 272 Mana like it was 10,000! She was grateful that she’d chosen the Mage Class. If she’d been any of the Warrior Class options, she wouldn’t be able to practice effectively without possibly injuring herself and her baby. And Mina desperately wanted to practice her Skills. If there was anything that she hated, it was falling behind.

The sisters discovered that Yulia did not require an injured person nearby to accrue experience for Healing Aura and Laying on Hands. So Mina encouraged her to practice those abilities and switch back and forth between them, trying to get a feel for how they felt, how they worked, and how best to use them.

After an hour or so of that, they went to bed. They’d both exhausted their Mana, and there wasn’t much else to do, since they didn’t want to push their luck by going out, even if Mina did feel a bit restless just staying in place and waiting.

The new day dawned cold and cloudy, and the two women dragged themselves reluctantly from bed and prepared for the day, uncertain what reception they would face outside.

Once they were actually downstairs, in the inn’s common area, it was surprisingly quiet. As on the previous day, most of the people in the winners’ quarters were relatively content. The only hints that something might be wrong were the odd sideways glance and the generally quiet atmosphere in the dining room.

But the woman who had cooked their breakfast yesterday was still friendly, and still willing to exchange some already cooked food for provisions. This time, there was less of a rush in the kitchen, so Mina was able to introduce herself without feeling she was holding people up.

“I’m Alba,” the Cook replied. Mina detected a fellow foreigner from her accent, and it provided an entree into a longer conversation. It turned out that Alba and her family were Spanish. In the pre-System world, she was a reasonably well known Spanish poet. She and her family had been on vacation at Disney when they were swept into the System. Sadly, due to Spanish naming conventions, she was here alone, while her husband and children were somewhere else.

Somewhere around the time that Mina had started to understand how Spanish surnames worked, Yulia came in to find out where breakfast was. So Mina made another introduction.

Alba seemed very pleasant, and Mina suggested that they eat together if the Cook was willing to take a break from her job.

They had just begun eating when the announcement rang out.

[Attention all survivors! The next challenge is about to begin. You have five minutes to prepare yourselves.]

“Well, that’s rotten timing!” Alba griped in instantly-translated Spanish. “Just when I was getting to know you girls.”

“I’m glad we got to say hello and get some food,” Yulia said, smiling.

“Thank you for your kindness,” Mina agreed.

“I’m just getting experience with my new Job, you know,” Alba said modestly. “I’m so glad both of you are enjoying the food. Eat quick! I’m going to go and find my group in case we need any last-minute preparations.” She picked up her food and walked out the door.

With the Cook gone, Mina and Yulia were free to wolf down the rest of their meal.

When the five minutes were up, they disappeared from the inn and reappeared in an outdoor location.

A look around revealed snow, trees, and a steep upward slope to one side of them, and the open sky to the other. They were on a mountain, and they seemed to be at a fairly high elevation.

As Mina inhaled the air, she felt as if she had to take slower, deeper breaths to get the same feeling of energy that breathing normally gave her.

This air is horribly thin. I’m not going to be able to move around very well if I have to breathe like this just standing still. I hope this isn’t a physical challenge. But she considered that last time, she’d just been lucky to get a chance at something physically non-demanding like marksmanship. Probably they were supposed to finish climbing to the top of the mountain or something like that.

Fortunately, she noticed that their group from the first challenge had been transported to the same place as her and Yulia. And if this was like last time, they wouldn’t all have to participate in whatever challenge was coming up.

“Good to see you all again!” Mina put on a big smile and waved at the other members of her group as if she was thrilled to be here.

She saw them smile back at her. They remembered her contribution from last time, she was certain. She was counting on it, since she’d almost certainly need them to excuse her inability to contribute this time.

The group gathered closer together, and people exchanged quiet chatter. About the setting, and about what they imagined the new challenge would be. People were already looking forward to their new rations, though Mina couldn’t understand how any of them could have finished what the System had given them last time. Her and Yulia’s food would last another two days, since the Cook had rationed what she made carefully, and the exchanges between her cooked food and their rations had been reasonable. Mina hoped the group wouldn’t be disappointed.

After a couple of minutes, the proctor’s voice interrupted them.

[Everything is prepared now, and all groups are together. You find yourself on a picturesque mountainside. However, you are not there to enjoy the view. Near each group, there is an opening to a cave. Within that cave, there is a dungeon.]

Mina found herself looking around as the proctor spoke, both for the dungeon she mentioned and for the proctor herself. The dungeon entrance was quickly visible, as a cave that was dug into the mountainside began glowing gently.

[Today’s dungeon challenge is largely trap-based, though it includes some monsters as well. As with the previous challenge, it is not necessary for all members of a group to participate in this one. If you intend to participate in the challenge for your group, please walk toward the opening to the dungeon.]

The group as a whole began walking toward the dungeon, though Mina hesitated.

“Of course, we don’t expect you to participate in this one, young lady,” the old gentleman in the group said quietly, with a gentle smile. “You contributed far more than your share last time, and I hope we can win the challenge and pay you back this time.”

Others nodded in agreement and looked pleased with what he was saying.

DaSilva simply smiled, as if this was something he had hoped someone would say so he wouldn’t have to bring it up himself.

[It should go without saying, there will be winners and losers in this challenge. The first half of the groups to clear the dungeon will be the winners. The second half will be the losers. In the event that a member of a winning team happens to die in the dungeon, his or her reward will be split among the surviving members of that team.]

Everyone grew more serious at that announcement, but they continued moving forward, leaving Mina and Yulia behind, holding hands near the cliffside.

“Sis,” Yulia said, not making eye contact with Mina. “I really want to go, and I think they might need a Healer if there are traps. Can I, please?”

Mina was a little surprised, but she realized she shouldn’t be. This was all an adventure to Yulia to some degree. It wasn’t as though the serial killer would be murdering people in the dungeon. Hopefully. It was an opportunity to see some more of the new world—

No, no, that isn’t the right way to think about this at all! Mina corrected herself. Yulia was volunteering to go into danger, because she wanted to help other people. Like she always does.

“I have to let go sometime,” Mina said softly, reluctantly. Eventually, you were always going to leave home. And it seems the world is going to be extremely dangerous from now on. At least this time, you’ll be with people who seem decent enough.

Mina released Yulia’s hand.

“You can do this,” Mina said with more conviction than she felt. “You’re a Danailova.” A pause. “I love you!” She pulled Yulia close, and Yulia returned her embrace. Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones, but Mina felt a little bit of liquid gathering at the corners of her eyes. And there was a terrible pit in her stomach. She might never see her sister again, she knew.

Mina blinked the tears away before Yulia could pull back from her and see them.

“I have to remind them how much the Danailova sisters contribute!” Yulia said fiercely, stepping back and staring Mina in the eyes.

There was a fire in her, Mina noticed. It was her own look, one that she had never expected to see on her baby sister’s face.

Maybe this is what it takes for her to really grow up.

“You’re going to be amazing,” Mina said. She had never felt prouder of Yulia than in this moment when she was volunteering to go into mortal peril. It might end up being foolish. The degree of danger was completely unknown, except for that the proctor had mentioned death.

The sisters exchanged cheek kisses, and Mina watched Yulia sprint over to the rest of the group.

As they had spoken, the proctor had been making last announcements that they’d both ignored. Those announcements now wrapped up.

[With everyone who wants to participate now on the starting line, we will take down the barrier sealing the dungeon shut. Everyone at those barriers, this is your last chance to decide to enter or not enter. Once you walk into the dungeon, you will not be able to leave without completing the dungeon.]

No one on Mina’s team changed their minds. She saw them all march resolutely in, as soon as the light emanating from the dungeon entrance faded and they could enter.

Mina was left alone outside. She paced back and forth, rubbing her arms together and breathing warm air into her hands. She wished she’d thought to throw a chair into her Small Bag of Deceptive Dimensions, which seemed to be able to hold fairly large objects without increasing in size or mass, based on its ability to contain all her System-provided rations and equipment as well as her bag from back on Earth. She made sure to take out her warm coat and put it on, now that she was no longer in the high stakes situation of deciding what to do about the dungeon.

And she waited.

With nothing to do, and little to distract her from the cold, Mina began Identifying random bits of plant life nearby. She’d been Identifying humans frequently over the last few days, but she hadn’t seen any non-human creatures since she came to Orientation. She was a little surprised to find that Identify worked on plants.

Pinus Aristata, Lv. 6

Rosa Woodsii, Lv. 2

Juniperus Communis, Lv. 4

I wonder if the Latin names mean these are just normal species of plant from Earth. Or does the System name the things it creates in Latin too?

Dasiphora Fruticosa, Lv. 4

[Sufficient experience accrued! Identify leveled up!]

Oh, that’s nice, I guess.

[Required conditions met! New Skill Investigate unlocked!]

That made her sit up. What would Investigate be? A more detailed form of Identify, maybe? Something that she could use to try to figure out the killer’s identity?

Mina immediately used Investigate on one of the plants she had Identified before.

A Status sheet appeared.

[Status

Name: Unnamed

Race: Pinus Aristata, Lv. 6

Health: 121/121

Mana: 0/0

Stats

Fortitude: 11

Skills

Photosynthesis Lv. 6

Solar Recovery Lv. 0]

That could be very useful, she thought. That could help me figure out who’s killing people, if I can get an idea of what kind of abilities they’re using.

The more she thought about how she might apply this skill to DaSilva’s investigation, the more excited she was about this breakthrough.

She was sure she would have been one of, if not the first, to have leveled Identify up to this point and unlocked Investigate. Quick Study ensured that her Skills increased their proficiency more quickly through practice than most people’s.

That would probably give her an element of surprise over the killer.

And somehow or other, between Investigate and Yulia’s Skill, Trace, Mina was certain she could prove the killer’s identity. She wasn’t sure if proof would be enough. Maybe the killer would be too powerful, by the time they knew who it was, to be stopped.

But this was a big step toward the proof they needed.