“CEASE!” cried out the voice of divinity, forcing my arm to stop, the limb suddenly feeling alien and apart from me. No matter how I struggled, it felt like the commands I was sending to my arm were simply being ignored.

  Utterly frozen, I could do nothing as the goddess floated closer to me. Always. Those in power only py games that they have already won, I thought to myself as I snarled in aggression.

  “No, no, no. This is not how it should have been done,” pouted Iasis, “You were meant to fight each other for a bit before you realized the futility of fighting yourself. It was meant to teach you something!”

  “Teach me something, you say!” I spat back, my helm causing my voice to sound hollow.

  Rolling her eyes, she expined, “Yes, you were meant to sheathe your sword and the mimic would have done likewise. It is meant to be a mirror of yourself! Have you not read of the tales!? Honestly!”

  “Tales!? What tales? You speak in riddles and bend and break the rules that you have made, like a spoiled child. You have me dance to your tune, and I will suffer it no longer. Strike me down and end this farce, I grow tired of it all,” I answered, all the while using this time to check my notifications.

  You have completed a Divine Ordeal.

  You have completed the Test of Iasis.

  You have gained 200 experience.

  You have gained the Mark of the Adapting Helix.

  You have learned Frenzied Strikes (lvl.1)

  You have learned Swords (lvl.3)

  You have learned Hammers (lvl.4)

  You have gained 1 Strength.

  From my notifications, this divine trial had certainly taught me something. Control returned to me as the experience flowed into my being. As powerful as they were, the gods of this world could be defied. If one was strong enough.

  “Ignorant… and so melodramatic are you, human, but I guess I did after all make you all in my own image,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. Her voice grew serious and stern, “If I wished you dead, you would be. I tolerate your presence because you are amusing, and because I have a use for you. Be that as it may, I will not tolerate RUDENESS!” excimed the divine.

  The anger left her as quickly as it came, for her expression became bright and joyful. She cpped her hands together, her eyes lighting, “You have passed the Test! Which makes you worthy of receiving my Mark. Oh, how delightful. This has not happened for, ah yes, centuries! Well done, now the Hul Abba, my servants will allow your passage!” she praised, her enthusiasm almost infectious.

  “Now, cim your prize! Quickly” she intoned.

  I sought my ‘prize’, scanning all the corners of this room, only to see the pseudo-me swiftly revert to an amorphous blob. The liquid began to vibrate, creating ripples that distorted and distended it into strange shapes. Then corners formed, and new wooden textures formed along the surface. Slowly, it began to take the rough shape of… a trunk or chest.

  “Quickly, before it finishes its transformation. Touch it!” insisted the goddess, command etched into every sylble of her voice.

  I found myself drawing closer, my hand reaching for what was left of my defeated foe. Making contact with its wooden surface, I felt a connection more intimate than anything I had ever felt before as I cimed what was rightfully mine. My heart raced, pounding in my chest, as a strange, fiery desire enveloped me.

  And then, with an abrasive suddenness, pain, that most unwelcome of guests, imposed itself upon me.