In a follow-up experiment, Shelley rigged a set of cages with a concealed timer mechanism that would open the cage door after a certain time. Using only healthy spiders, they found that the Mages were able to distinguish broadly between spiders whose release was imminent in the next few seconds, versus spiders that were unable to escape for many minutes or hours.

  As a bonus, several Mages independently reported that killing spiders which had already escaped from their cage yielded significantly more Essence than those about to be released. Thanks to Shelley’s considerable foresight in having a Healer on standby, no Mage fatalities were required to obtain this scientifically invaluable data.

  The breakthrough data from Shelly’s experiments is suggestive of the fundamental differences between mana and Essence. Mana is merely a tool, one we can use to permanently alter the world around us, but which in and of itself is merely a transient force of nature. A conjured arrow may create a permanent wound, but the arrow itself inevitably dissipates within minutes.

  Similarly, an Earth Mage may call up constructs of stone in complex shapes seemingly out of thin air, and even sustain them for an extended period of time through the channeling of mana, but when the mana supply is cut off the conjurations will vanish. If they use a Manipulate Stone Spell instead, which alters natural materials already present, then the stone will retain its shape indefinitely.

  - Rufus Veres, Level 37 Verbose Historian, A Brief History of the System

  I fired on instinct as the first shape came into sight, causing its barrier to flare brightly as it shattered. The monster staggered, and another crashed into it from behind, flinging it towards us. It pulled its many legs into a ball and did a complete forward roll before the legs unfurled again and it caught its footing. The creature howled again, its wolfish jaws dripping, then leapt up the slope, its eight long, segmented legs latching onto the rock and flinging the waist-tall horror at us.

  Boom! click-click

  My shot caught it mid-leap and punched into its side, bright red blood spraying from the wound as chaos erupted. I drove the front sight back down and put my third shot into another wolf-spider’s barrier as it ran towards us halfway up the side of the wall. As I racked another shell into the chamber, it jumped at Raylan, who stepped forward to meet it with his knives flashing. A thick spike pierced entirely through the body of the first monster as it tried to get back up and it howled in agony, legs futilely scraping the ground in an attempt to pull itself towards us.

  Further back in the cave, another barrier flickered and then died, the wolf-spider suddenly collapsing to the floor with a wail. My fourth shot caught it in the head, but yet another similar monster jumped over the still-twitching corpse and charged me. I fired again and missed as it jumped, cursing. My eyes widened as I saw how far it was flying through the air and I jerked my gun up into a block just in time.

  The wolf-spider crashed into me, knocking me onto my back. My barrier cushioned my fall as the monster's sharp teeth closed around the barrel of the gun. I held on with all my strength, keeping it between myself and the monster like a club. Rancid breath washed over me and saliva dripped onto my chest as I tried to push it away. It glared at me with two rows of yes, four small red spider eyes above the two yellow wolf-like ones.

  “Roll to your right!” Zaire screamed, and I tried, heaving and twisting, but the monster’s many legs kept it incredibly stable on top of me. Something I couldn’t see shattered its barrier and then Zaire’s staff smashed down on its legs. Sensing the opening, I heaved again. This time the creature staggered, skittering to the side to keep its balance.

  A thick spike of rock erupted, just a foot away from my body, driving straight up into its neck. Blood gushed from between the monster’s teeth and fell hotly onto my right arm as I ripped my gun free from the pinned creature and scrambled back to my feet.

  To my side, Raylan had finished off his wolf-spider and was fighting another one, knives flashing as he met its snarling teeth with sharp steel. Zaire’s next spike missed as the creature danced to the side. Something twisted the air between Raylan and me, streaking into the monster. Its barrier shattered and the creature screamed, stumbling back in pain.

  BoomBOOM! click-click click

  I fired into its side, my shot echoing weirdly, then pulled the trigger on an empty chamber.

  “Shit, reloading!” I shouted, sliding the butt of my shotgun onto my shoulder to stabilize it as I started shoving shells into the magazine as fast as possible. Raylan stepped forward and buried one of his daggers in the monster’s eye, dropping it, then called out as he stepped back.

  “It’s OK, we’re clear now!”

  Is it over? I don’t see any more of them coming, but… oh fuck, where’s the Essence?

  “There’s more of them! I didn’t get any Essence!” I shouted, pumping a fresh shell into the chamber.

  tick tick tick tick ticktick

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  The creature that emerged from the shadows was another wolf-spider, but it was far larger than the ones we’d killed so far. It stood nearly twice as tall, its disgusting form even more twisted. It looked like someone had taken two of the hideous creatures, chopped the right legs off of one and the left legs off the other, then shoved the two mutilated bodies together. It had wolf legs in the front and the back, with spider legs in between.

  My shot splashed off its barrier, another of Elin’s Pain Bolts flashed by, and a spike appeared underneath it. Elin’s Spell was also caught by the creature’s barrier, and its legs were so long that the tip of the spike barely reached its body before shattering against its defenses. As I racked a fresh shell into the chamber, both of the monster's heads lifted towards the roof of the cave and it howled.

  The sound blasted out with such force that my barrier shattered and I staggered back, almost dropping my gun in agony as pain erupted in my ears. Fuck that hurts you stupid Wasted mutant shitball! I could feel blood dripping from my ears and I lost my balance, dropping to one knee. I shoved Force into my gun, saw Raylan stumbling forward as if drunk, his mouth open in a scream I couldn’t hear as he fought to keep his balance.

  The monster dashed forwards, straight towards Raylan. My infused shot slammed into its shoulder and the creature’s barrier finally broke, but its charge continued. An Earth Spike erupted far behind it as Raylan raised his blades futilely. It was just a few yards away, ready to lunge when –

  WHOOSH!

  A streak of light blasted past me and punched into the beast right between the two heads. It effortlessly pierced directly through the monster, the shot ripping out of the wolf-spider’s back and slamming into the wall of the cave. The creature tumbled forward, knocking Raylan onto his ass. The Knife Fighter managed to roll free before the now-corpse crashed to the ground.

  I looked back in shock, seeing Hassan lowering his bow. Behind him, Vale lifted her hand and I felt a wave of soothing warmth wash through me, followed by a small rush of Essence.

  [Congratulations, Gunner! You have earned your first Essence as part of a Squad! When you fight with a Squad of fellow American Heroes, the Essence you earn is proportional to your Level divided by the total Levels of all the Squad members! Since you have mighty Squadmates, you have gained only a fraction of the Essence from this fight!]

  I ignored PAST’s announcement as I tried to get the still damp blood out of my now-healed ears. The four of us stumbled out of the cave and back into the light, momentarily blinded before our eyes could adjust. Blinking, I found Mason standing in front of us, arms crossed over his chest.

  “Disappointing, but not surprising,” he said in a flat voice.

  I scowled at his comment but didn’t say anything. Raylan would have died, possibly not alone, if Hassan hadn’t shot the monster at the last moment.

  “I’ll start with the good news. No one panicked or lost their composure. You cleared the first wave without any significant injuries.” He unfolded his hands and placed them on his hips and I was reminded just how tall he was as he took a half-step closer, looming over us.

  “Now, let’s go over the stuff you fucked up. Any ideas?”

  “I should have used Force as soon as I fired the first shot. I could have knocked the smaller ones back, helped keep them away from us,” I admitted.

  Mason’s eyes narrowed. “That might have helped, though it’s not one of the top three mistakes you made as a team. Any ideas what those were?”

  Uncertain, I looked at the other recruits. When no one seemed ready to speak up, Mason continued.

  “You started off in an acceptable formation – you can add that to the short list of things that went well. However, you failed to define your responsibilities, other than assigning Raylan to tackle anything that reached melee range.

  “Zaire, Az, and Elin – you should have agreed on who was going to cover which targets before engaging. As a group, you’re heavily biased towards ranged damage and coordination is essential. It’s easy for ranged fighters and casters to accidentally target the same opponent and over-kill it while another monster gets through unscathed. Next time, divide your fields of fire by both angle and distance.

  “Second, you failed to prepare the terrain to your advantage. Zaire’s Earth Wall could have easily closed off half of the gap that the monsters had to fit through to come at you. Why didn’t you use it?”

  Zaire stepped forward slightly and spoke in a rigid tone. “Squad Leader Mason, it was entirely my fault that-”

  “Nice try, but I don’t want to hear that,” Mason cut him off. “You all had a chance to contribute to the plan. You can’t always take your time getting ready before a fight, but when you can, you make Wasted sure that you do – and that you do it effectively.

  “Finally, you failed to train all of the Skills you should have. Did any of you Identify the monsters?”

  “I, uh, didn’t want to waste mana,” I admitted, “I Identified one of the monsters in the Tutorial and the information was useless.” I realized my mistake as soon as the words were out of my mouth, but Mason’s glare shut me up before I could take it back.

  “Exactly,” he growled, “and it’s going to stay useless until you Level up the Skill. Conserving your mana in the Tutorial was the right decision, but this is a different situation. Every time you’re in a supervised fight I expect you to Identify at least one of every type of monster you face.”

  “Can’t we just Identify the corpses afterwards?” Elin asked.

  “Today you will, but using Skills under pressure will get you far more progress than using them after the fight. Now, you get to haul the bodies out of the cave by hand before we dispose of them. Get to it. I want them all piled up over there,” he pointed off to the side, about fifty feet away. “Except for one, pick whichever you think looks the tastiest and leave that one aside for dinner.”

  Hope the monsters aren't too scary for y'all. Maybe don't read this where any kids can see it? Chances are they'll get interested and then you'll get in trouble because of all the cursing and shit in this story.