Wednesday, March 14.

  My head felt like it was splitting into pieces and about to explode. Every breath burned my lungs, the slightest movement brought terrible pain and my body ached continuously. The whole world appeared in a dim gray color.

  At first I was convinced that I had at least landed in hell. However, the soon distinguishable outlines of my own room shattered that theory.

  By my count, this horror lasted about five hours. Lost track of how many times I wanted to die, and started thinking I was going insane. No matter how hard I tried to black out, I just couldn't.

  At one point the pain began to gradually subside, and color and clarity returned to my vision. When everything normalized enough for me to regain coherent thought, understanding came—this was the hellish comedown Jane mentioned. The battle with the mage had truly cost my body dearly.

  The transition lasted about an hour. Then my vision finally went back to normal and I could move with minimal pain. Never been so happy just to breathe normally.

  The first thing I do is sit up in bed and check my body: no injuries from the mace or burns. Good thing Jane kept her word and didn't skimp on the elixir... And I totally deserved it.

  The sun is almost down outside. My phone shows 7:49, plus a missed call from Sharon, several messages from Rob and tons from Lily. I have no desire to answer them.

  As soon as I get out of bed, I am overwhelmed with hunger and thirst. These sensations are no less intense than the final stages of pain, so I immediately fly to the kitchen. On the way I hear a rustling in Jane's closed room, but I don't care.

  Getting there, I grab the water jug from the table and chug it all in seconds, spilling some on myself. Tossing it aside, I throw open the fridge and start devouring everything I see.

  ##

  "I see you finally recovered. How was the experience?" Jane asked impassively, having come downstairs to find me in the middle of biting into a huge piece of sausage.

  "I'll never take that shit again, don't even ask. And I want to forget the so-called experience forever," I state firmly and continue eating.

  "Yeah, as I expected... But you need to keep in mind the alternative was death. In case of threat, sadly, you'll have to take another pill. You have to be prepared for that," she said coldly and sat down at the table.

  "Or maybe you could protect me more carefully and not leave me to fight mages? Why didn't you even give me something like a painkiller? Also we didn't finish talking yesterday."

  "Like I said, only healers and paladins can skip the comedown. Any extra substances, especially magical ones, would've made it way worse for you. You HAVE to come down from this stimulant naturally, or you can die from that too. And you're really still hung up on that fight?"

  "Fight?! I was nearly crushed and burned alive!"

  "Okay, I understand your indignation, but from a strategic point of view I couldn't intervene right away. Caroline would have gained an advantage, at worst she could have traded the madman's death for both of us. Again, the alternative was far worse."

  Deep down, I understand that she's objectively right and knows the situation better, but I want to prevent a repeat as much as possible.

  "So what went wrong?" I ask and sit across from her with a can of pineapples.

  "Caroline laid out a decent picture, but from her side. She really did prepare well for my attack and got this ring that gives strong invisibility and lowers magical energy detection for others. First seconds, she activated it and hid somewhere. I couldn't find her in the building or grounds, though I felt her there. Realizing she was using some artifact, I decided to fake a retreat—jumped the fence, ran off and dropped shadow form. Then quickly came back under Concealment Aura. That's one of my abilities that completely hides magical energy and lets me blend with surroundings, though you can't fight in that state. I positioned myself on the roof for a wide view since I could still sense Caroline. Became clear she was probably waiting to see how your fight ended. If I'd known you were about to get screwed, I'd have killed that fake knight in a second. And I almost stepped in when he tackled you, but Caroline gave up first. Her ring, by the way, would be perfect for you, but it's useless without massive magical energy."

  "Guess I won't stop being amazed by your magical mind games," I note ironically. "Okay, at least I understand your actions now. But please, let's agree there won't be more shit like this."

  "I can't guarantee anything in that regard, but no difficulties are expected soon. Other participants can't prepare so well since they have minimal information about me, if any. I'll just promise to watch you more carefully."

  "Well, thanks for that much at least! From how you're talking, I'm guessing the observer still hasn't shown up?"

  "I haven't seen any sign of him and he's still not responding. I've got two thoughts: either he's incredibly late, or they assigned him to something else. Looks like nobody cared about the preparation phase at all, but this can't go on long. Within a couple days they'll either get him in line or find a replacement, since without 'cleanup' participants will easily expose the magical world," she said confidently.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  "Oh... I really hope you're right. So, you're going to kill someone again tonight? Can I stay on the sidelines this time? Can't you share the aura somehow?"

  "Hahaha, I told you twice not to judge by that attack," she brushed it off. "Truth is, I planned a raid today on the spot where Caroline's resource stash probably is. There's definitely lots of valuable stuff there and other participants have been spotted nearby, easy to take out. But... recently through my familiar I noticed something really weird in the district near the city outskirts. I want to check it out since it looks like something that could be dangerous."

  "Dangerous for you?" I was amazed.

  "Theoretically, yes, I stared at it for half an hour and couldn't understand anything except the basic principle. If this really is dangerous magic, I need to find this participant and eliminate him before he makes his first move."

  The fact that Jane has doubts worries me a bit. She hadn't shown any before.

  "What needs to be done?"

  "This time, you will stay on the sidelines as you wish. Can't share the aura, but that district is quiet in every sense, no participants there. You won't even get close to this anomaly since it has unknown effect. Think it'll take twenty minutes at the most. If we don't run into anyone, there won't be fights."

  "Well, nice to hear on one hand... but on the other I'm getting nervous too. What is this anomaly?"

  "Finish eating and come down to the basement so you can see for yourself. I have also prepared some additional equipment for you to make things easier in general," she indicated, stood up and left the kitchen.

  ##

  My hunger was only satisfied after eating half a vanilla berry cake. The one upside of the comedown—I'd never eaten anything so delicious, and the quantity didn't even make me sick. Well, still hope this was the first and last pill.

  I walk into the garage and quickly descend the familiar stairs. Jane was sitting at the desk, hunched over a medium-sized shimmering hand mirror. She'd left me fifteen minutes ago... had she spent the whole time like this?

  "If the house is attacked, can I hide in the basement?" I ask curiously.

  "Good idea, but only if the passage is open and I have time to seal it. Technically it's just a regular room with stairs, but hidden by a spell," she explained. "Come look closer."

  I approach as she hands me the mirror. For the first few seconds only bright glints are visible, then a somewhat static picture seeps through.

  It's a bird's-eye view of an unremarkable street: regular road, a low lattice fence on the left around some house, partial view on the right. At first I can't tell what I'm looking at, but then I spot a man lying inside the fence, and from him... literally growing tall red and yellow flowers. Their petals are unnaturally connected, forming some kind of symbol that looks a bit like a pentagram. There's also lots of plants and random household stuff near the fence, hiding the body from street view.

  "Some flower garden," I laugh nervously and hand back the mirror. "What is this? By the way, what are these familiars of yours?"

  "Various summoned scout creatures, this one specifically is a small crow. I sent it to this area since I knew a participant was based there. That's his corpse lying there. Everything was fine with him last night, but suddenly this happened. I missed the moment of death but assume he was killed early morning."

  "Maybe the killer follows the time frame rule," I remark. "I suppose there's something wrong with those flowers?"

  "Everything is. I've never seen anything even close to this. The flowers definitely serve some magical purpose. Could write this off as a way to hide the body, but that weird symbol ruins that theory. I really don't like how this magic looks. And not knowing how he died makes it even more disturbing. This needs to be investigated urgently."

  "What if the killer's still there?"

  "Unlikely, even the dumbest mage won't linger in obscure places. And that leads to the second mystery: my familiars sense magical activity and report it immediately, but the crow didn't react at all. Either this mage is very good at concealing his presence, or he is somehow acting remotely."

  This fact increases my worry.

  "Is he equal to you in power? You said most participants were trash."

  "They are, after Caroline's death probably no one surpasses me. Her words about strong mages she knew were just to impress you. But this one might possess special techniques or very rare magic that's dangerous because it's unknown. You won't understand other details, and don't even try to talk me out of it."

  "Guess I'm down for the raid," I force out reluctantly. "Want to be sure you're the strongest one here and nobody's gonna turn us into a flower garden."

  "Thanks for no arguments this time. Additional equipment's on that shelf," she points right without looking away from the mirror.

  I look over: the new "gifts" consist of two dark blue gloves, a substantial knife resembling a hunting knife, its sheath, three small pouches, a green ring, and a Deagle.

  "Don't like how much you're arming me up..." I mutter.

  "This bumps up your defense big time and means you don't need to take the pill early, like you wanted. You know about the gloves; with the knife be super careful, you can easily slice something off, always keep it in its sheath and try not to use it for small stuff; the pouches have small crystals that make a veil and blind—just break them on the ground and look away yourself; the ring slightly suppresses mana in a small radius, making it harder to cast spells; Deagle's for absolute emergencies only, its bullets pack about as much punch as... artillery," she explains dryly.

  "Looks like I don't have those bullets," I said, collecting everything. The attempt to lift the knife with my bare hands fails, indicating great power.

  "It's already loaded with seven shots. Trust me, that would last the whole Game. And only shoot wearing gloves, otherwise it'll tear off your hands."

  "Nice recoil. When do we head out?"

  "As soon as you gear up. Waiting in the car," she set aside the mirror and ran upstairs.

  Well, at least she's honest, I sighed.

  The gloves slip on easily and feel no different from normal ones. The knife becomes light and fits easily in the sheath, which I attach to my jeans. The ring fits my ring finger, pouches go in side pockets, Deagle in back.

  Feel like some action movie star about to drop into a hot zone from a helicopter.

  I go up to my room and add the Glock and pills to my gear, which Jane will definitely check. This time I take four spare magazines.

  On the way I swallow a cupcake from the kitchen, return to the garage and sit up front. Engine's already running and runes probably applied.

  "Don't worry, got the stimulant. And if the observer suddenly appears during this, won't it be a problem that it's not 10 yet?" I wonder.

  "I'm not planning to fight anyone so the rule isn't broken, and if we meet someone aggressive on the way, we have the right to defend ourselves. Don't worry about it, he's more likely to object to involving third parties in the Game," Jane laughed and floored it.

  "Yes, and technically he'll object to me," I correct grimly. "By the way, did you run into anyone on the way back last night?"

  "No one worth mentioning, the rest doesn't deserve discussion."