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  The teenager carefully climbed out of the nacelle. He tapped his left foot around until he felt his boot was on the ladder. He repeated with his right foot. Still gripping the edge of the nacelle, his feet descended and then he grabbed the ladder with his left hand. He released the nacelle and grabbed the ladder with his right hand. After climbing down a few steps, he reached for a latch on the panel and popped the piece back into place.

  Suddenly, the wind blades started rotating!

  "Oh, shit!" Schmendrick blurted aloud when he realized someone had turned the wind turbine back on too early.

  The blades rotated slowly at first. But then a strong gust of wind started blowing.

  The teenager tightened his grip on the ladder, desperate to avoid being blown off.

  Somehow, he managed to resist nature's fury long enough to hear the buzzing sound of a hovercraft approach. However, his hope was abruptly snuffed when a strong gust ripped him off the ladder! Schmendrick's body flew past the hovercraft. The wind dissipated and the teenager immediately dropped into the water!

  The cold plunge took the breath out of him. With his remaining consciousness, Schmendrick removed the oil tank from his back. And then his world turned black.

  2.7 - Deathmatch

  The boy slammed into the ground face first. He groaned and slowly pulled himself back up.

  An old man crouched before the boy and said, "That's it? That's all the fight you have in you, kid? If that's the case, then you should forget about avenging your mama." The man rose to his full height and started to walk away.

  The boy spat on the ground. It was blood. "I'm not done yet," he gasped. "Yeargh!" he ran up to grandpa and started punching with his fists. He had spent the past six months training to fight bare-handed. His progress was coming slowly.

  "Harder!" the old man said while blocking with his arms. On occasion, he threw a jab into the boy's face.

  His grandson reeled from the punch but kept attacking.

  "Good! That's the spirit, kiddo!"

  * * *

  Schmendrick coughed uncontrollably; the sea water violently regurgitated through his throat and out of his mouth. Once he started breathing normally, his eyes began to take in his surroundings. The teenager saw Lance leaning down and patting his back. There were other people present but Schmendrick couldn't focus his eyes well enough to identify them by face. "What happened?" he croaked.

  "The wind turbine restarted prematurely and you were blown off," someone answered quietly.

  Schmendrick took a moment to remember the sound of the voice. It was Alond, the assistant chief mechanic. The teenager's memories started coming back. "Yeah, the blades started rotated immediately after I closed the nacelle," he said. His body was still weak. He had fallen into the water. "Sorry, I lost the oil tank and dispenser," he said quickly.

  Alond ruffled the boy's hair. "It's fine. We could replace the equipment. Your life, on the other, is another matter since there's no guarantee that the Priest-King will spend the Aether to resurrect you," he noted.

  "Was the turbine supposed to turn on automatically when I close the nacelle?" Schmendrick said as he slowly returned to his feet.

  "No, it wasn't," a harsh voice replied. It belonged to Commander Jenks. "Someone purposely turned it back on before you got off the turbine."

  "Nah, I'm sure it was just an accident," someone said.

  "No, it wasn't," Jenks insisted and shook his head. "I reviewed the system log. Crane was the one who turned it on. Our windows provide a clear view of the turbines. He saw that you were still on it when he turned the turbine back on." The commander made a motion with his hand.

  Two men stepped forward with another man in shackles.

  "Crane, tell Schmendrick why you turned on the turbine," the commander ordered.

  The guilty man was average looking and had a medium build. He sported a shiner in his left eye and his lips were split open. "Benais forced me to do it. He threatened my life if I refused," Crane said quietly.

  "That's what I thought," Jenks nodded and made another hand motion.

  Another man was brought forward. This time it was Benais who was in shackles. The guards had pistols trained on his back.

  Benais grinned at the boy. "Yes, I admit it," he said proudly. "I don't like you, little boy. You should have stayed dead. You don't belong in the Sanctum. There's no room for us both here." The man turned toward Jenks. "I challenge him to a deathmatch."

  The onlookers gasped.

  Benais grinned again.

  "What's a deathmatch?" Schmendrick asked.

  "It's a fight to the death," Lance replied. "The winner will take all the points earned by the loser. The loser agrees not to be revived by the Priest-King. Death will be permanent." He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You don't have to accept this challenge. Benais tried to kill you. You were extremely lucky that I was able to see your glow stick when you fell into the water and fished you out before you drowned. I don't want to see my effort saving your life going to waste."

  Schmendrick smiled. "Thank you for saving me."

  "This proposal for a deathmatch is another attempt to kill you," Jenks added. "Benais knows he's getting the death penalty. He will die either way. He wants to take you with him."

  "I accept," the boy said loudly. He untied the pouches containing the 1,100 shekels and passed the bags to Lance. "Please bet on me."

  The onlookers started backing away until they were leaning against the wall of the control tower.

  Schmendrick saw shekels changing hands as bets were being placed. He stood in the middle of the ground floor of the control tower. He watched as someone removed the shackles from his opponent's wrists and ankles. And a bastard sword was handed to Benais.

  The large man raised his sword in the air and then the blade dropped; its sharp end was pointed directly at the boy.

  Schmendrick was not intimidated by this gesture. The teenager calmly pulled the daggers from their sheaths. The weapons felt natural in his hands as if they were extensions of his body.

  Jenks stepped forward. "Since this is a deathmatch, there are no rules. Begin!"

  Benais howled like a deranged animal and charged! He jumped in the air and slammed his sword down, seeking to cut the boy in half!

  Schmendrick casually spun away and swiped his right dagger like a cat's paw; the blade drew blood from the man's forearm.

  Benais scowled and swung his bastard sword like a baseball bat. He was happy to discover that the little cut did not diminish his swung one bit.

  The boy hopped back.

  "Too scared to fight me, little boy?" Benais taunted.

  Schmendrick's face remained emotionless. Originally, he wanted to tire out his opponent. However, the teenager decided to accept the condemned's invitation to end the match quickly. After all, the traitor needed to be put down in the most humiliating fashion possible. Otherwise, his buddies will try to avenge Benais later on. The teenager had to show he was a ruthless, cold-blooded killer. And not to be messed around with. Abruptly, Schmendrick charged at Benais!

  The large man grinned as his prey approached. Benais swung his massive sword again, intending to split the boy in two at the abdomen.

  The teenager timed his tumble roll perfectly and rolled under the blade. His momentum carried his body forward. When the rotation was completed, Schmendrick lunged forward with his legs. His right arm stretched out and stabbed Benais right through the heart. The blade made a clean exit through the back of the man.

  Schmendrick looked directly into the dying man's eyes. Then, the teenager's cruelly jammed his left blade into the man's throat.

  Benais dropped his sword and fell to the ground.

  The victorious duelist turned the body over and pulled his daggers out. He wiped the blades on the deceased man's shirt before resheathing his daggers.

  The onlookers finally broke their silence. Those Reborn rooting for Schmendrick immediately cheered his win. Friends of the deceased man, however, star
ed in shock and horror at the body on the ground. Finally, someone put a towel to cover Benai's face; it was a look of surprise.

  Jenks walked over to Schmendrick and said, "Please climb up."

  Schmendrick followed the commander and climbed the same ladder. When they reached the platform, the teenager was led to the commander's computer terminal. The boy sat in the chair in front of the desk.

  Jenks typed into the keyboard. He recorded the result of the deathmatch between Benais and Schmendrick. A red text with the word, "DECEASED" was added to Benais' file. "Per the rules of the deathmatch, I'm going to distribute Benais' experience points to you. Are you ready to receive them?" the commander asked.

  The teenager nodded.

  Jenks pressed "Enter" and the system transferred the points from Benais to Schmendrick.

  When the teenager called up the menu screen, he saw:

  Name: Schmendrick

  Physical: 100

  Mental: 120

  Vitality: 200

  Aether: 100

  Level: 12 (!), 100 attribute points to distribute

  Experience: 20,750/10,000

  Class: Thief

  Skills: Dodge, Ambidextrous, Devil's Luck

  Power: n/a

  The commander smiled. "Benais had 11,250 experience points. Apparently, he was jealous of you for how quickly you were able to gain your points. When you finish distributing your attribute points, please step into the red circle. You will be teleported to the Testing Center. I hope you will be granted a power and allowed to live in Rezdi City," he said.

  "Congratulations!" someone said from behind.

  Schmendrick turned around and saw Lance with his hand out. The teenager shook it.

  Then Lance returned his pouches. This time, there were eight of them! Seeing the surprised look on the teenager's face, Lance said, "People didn't believe you would go through with the match and kill Benais. I ended up getting 3,000 shekels for you. Minus my cut of 300 shekels, that's 2,700. On top of your original 1,100 shekels. That comes out to 3,800 shekels in those pouches."

  "Thank you!" Schmendrick replied. The boy took a moment to search his feelings and realized that he was not at all upset that Benais had to die. After all, the man's pride was what led to his own demise. Schmendrick gave the man the deathmatch Benais had so desired and Benais lost in a fair fight. He quickly pushed thoughts of the deceased man out of his mind.

  The boy tied the pouches stuffed with shekels to his hips. Returning his attention to the menu screen, Schmendrick added 80 attribute points to Mental and 20 points to Physical. He now had 200 points in Mental and 120 in Physical. The teenager stepped into the red circle. A golden light shone down on him. With a golden flash of light, he disappeared from the tower.

  2.8 - Testing Center II

  When the golden light faded, Schmendrick was not surprised to discover that he was back in the test tube inside the spherical room again. I might as well make the best of it. "How are you, Mother?" the boy asked politely.

  "Surprised," the matronly voice replied.

  "How so?" Schmendrick asked. "You're part of the system, aren't you? You can see what the Reborn see through the brain chip you planted inside our heads. How can you be surprised?" The teenager shook his head.

  "My child, you misunderstand the system. It is not a single entity like a human being. It is more like a group of programs and functions that cooperate for a common purpose. One part of the system may not be aware of what another part is doing. My function is to examine the Reborn at levels 5 and 10 and to offer the skills which are the most suitable to them, Aether-fueled or not," she explained.

  "So why are you surprised?" Schmendrick pressed her.

  "In all the years that I have administered the Evaluation, I have never encountered a Reborn who reached Level 10 only two days after his arrival on Sanctum. I've accessed your file and I understood how you managed to accomplish this astonishing feat. There was no collusion or cheating involved. Every experience point you earned was done fair and square. But that doesn't lessen my surprise to see you in my test tube so soon," Mother replied.

  "Well, I'm sure I will soon be out of your hair," the teenager joked.

  A golden ball dropped from the ceiling and hovered in front of the tube. "Do you recall our conversation yesterday?" she asked.

  The boy took a moment to remember. "You mean how the air on Sanctum is saturated with Aether and it changes our DNA?" he guessed.

  "Correct," the ball bobbled. "If you spent only a day out in the wilderness of the Recovered Land, how much has your DNA changed?" she asked.

  "Not at all," Schmendrick frowned and dropped his head, which hit the glass tube. The teenager pressed his forehead against the glass. He hadn't thought about how the fast leveling would affect his chances of receiving a magic power. If only Schmendrick had refused to fight that deathmatch, then he wouldn't be in this predicament. He sighed deeply.

  "I'm not suggesting that you have zero chance of receiving a magic power after your Evaluation. But I'm being completely honest with you in admitting that your chance will be very low," Mother said.

  "How low?"

  "2%"

  "How did you calculate that probability?"

  The golden ball circled around the test tube. "The base chance is 1% and your odds will increase by 1% per day you spend in the Recovered Land," Mother revealed. "The increase in probability will cease after 30 days. After that, it's a matter of time before the Reborn reaches Level 10 and receives the second Evaluation," she explained.

  "Well, let's get this over with," Schmendrick said.

  "Sweet dreams, my child," Mother replied.

  Gas seeped into the tube to relax the Reborn teenager and fluid began to enter.

  Schmendrick closed his eyes and fell asleep.

  * * *

  "Argh!" the boy cried out. The blade sliced open his shoulder.

  "No, you need to move faster!" grandpa replied. The two were sparring with folding knives. "Even though you're only 16, those men who killed your mama will not take you lightly. Some of them did tours in the Middle East and they learned that even children could wear suicide belts and carry guns. These men will be aggressive and go for the kill. You have to be able to dodge or parry their first strike. Let's practice until you get your timing down. I'm going to aim for your heart again." The instructor jabbed the edge of his knife into the boy's heart.

  The pupil ducked under the swing and jabbed at his grandpa's abdomen.

  Thankfully, the instructor's body armor prevented the blade from piercing his skin. "Good!"

  * * *

  Schmendrick opened his eyes. He saw a bright white ceiling. He felt the cold, hard stone under his body. Allowing his eyes to regain focus, the teenager turned his head from side to side and confirmed that he was laying on the altar. He hopped off the altar and pressed a panel on the base of the altar. A panel slid open and he retrieved a brown bag. He dumped the contents on the altar and quickly put on his clothing. However, Schmendrick noticed that the shirt was different from the uniforms he wore. It was light brown in the torso with long, white sleeves. The collar was open in a v-shape and white; there was no button on the shirt. Frankly, it was a tad more dramatic in terms of style than what he would have chosen for himself. A pair of black pants and boots plus a belt and two sheathed daggers completed his outfit.

  When Schmendrick called up the menu, he saw the following:

  Name: Schmendrick

  Physical: 120

  Mental: 200

  Vitality: 200

  Aether: 100

  Level: 12

  Experience: 22,750/23,000

  Class: Assassin

  Skills: Dodge, Ambidextrous, Devil's Luck, Undaunted, Killer Instinct

  Power: n/a

  The teenager was amused to see a full body picture of himself on the menu. He had to admit the outfit made him look dashing.

  A brown ball descended from the ceiling and awaited his questions.

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sp; Schmendrick was disappointed, but not surprised, to see that he did not receive a magic power. After all, Mother had set his expectations low for a reason. She knew he wasn't going to receive it because he hadn't lived in the Recovered Land long enough for his DNA to change. "Why did I get 2,000 more points?" the boy asked.

  "You are the first Reborn on record to reach Level 10 only a day after graduation from The Noob Academy. The system decided to grant you a bonus for your unparalleled achievement."

  To the surprise of Schmendrick, the voice that spoke was distinctively male. "Why do you sound like a man?" he quickly asked.

  "That's a rude question, child," the brown ball chided him.

  Two more balls descended from the ceiling. One was colored green and the other purple. The three balls started flying in a circle around the boy.

  Schmendrick felt no malice from the trio and decided to wait patiently.

  Finally, the purple ball spoke up. "We are the Three Wise Men. My name is Balthazar. The brown one is Caspar and the green one is Melchior."

  "Why do you call yourselves that?" the teenager asked.

  "Because we are known within the system for our great collective wisdom," Melchior replied.

  The brown ball bobbled in agreement. "Right now, our task is figuring out what to do with you," Caspar added.

  "Your rapid advancement has created issues for the system," Balthazar said.

  "If you had advanced at a normal rate, you would have greatly enhanced your odds of receiving a magic power," Melchior noted.

  "And this, in turn, will allow you to reside in Rezdi City on a permanent basis," Caspar said.

  "We are aware of the hostility that the Reborn in the Recovered Land has exhibited toward you," Balthazar said.

  "It greatly troubles us to see your young life threatened due to mere jealousy," Melchior said. The purple ball shook in disappointment.