Aella shifted from her spot near the entrance, and glanced at the man sleeping next to her. She shook his shoulder, whispering "Wake up."

He rolled over and sat up, rubbing his eyes. His voice was low and groggy, as he nodded. "My turn?"

She nodded her head toward the entrance, the soft light of a setting sun streaming in. "No need."

His eyes opened wide as he looked outside, then looked at her, his eyebrow raised.

She chuckled. "The storm slowed down around two hours ago, and it's been clear for an hour."

He pointed at the fire, crackling in the middle of the cave.

Aella nodded. "The wood is dried out too. Besides downed trees and large puddles, everything is back to whatever normal this island has."

Gemini frowned as he looked inside the cave.

Aella nodded. "The two guys you brought with you last night left about thirty minutes ago. They wanted to search the beach for wreckage and supplies."

Gemini nodded, then pointed outside. "Looks like a twelve-hour day," he said. "If we've been on one Game day for all of these tests."

Aella thought about it. Morning for the Resource and Ocean tests, mid-morning for Merchant. We've been here for nine hours, and it's almost dark. I'm hungry too. Makes sense. She nodded. "We should wake the others and eat. The next test may be soon, or be in the morning."

He nodded. "I'm Gemini," he said, holding out his hand to her.

Aella shook it, and smiled. "Aella." She pointed across the cave to a woman with an electric blue pixie cut and shimmering silver skin. The woman was just waking up, and was rubbing her black eyes. "Who's your twin?"

He grinned, running a hand through the long hair that brushed his shoulders. "Her name is Gemina--we're twins from the 36th Sector."

The girl Aella had found in the netting woke up as well, and stretched. "Morning," she said, nodding.

Aella nodded to her as well.

"I'm Gemini," he said. "This is Aella," he pointed to his sister, "Gemina and---"

"Sigmund, if you're wondering," the other man said from the back corner of the cave. He stepped forward, and offered his hand to Aella, winking at her when she shook it. Cheeky fellow. He was her height, with a tan skin and red-orange hair that matched his golden eyes.

She nodded to him.

"I'm Maeva," the girl said, waving a hand before running it through her long scarlet hair. It contrasted well with the light coffee color of her skin.

Gemini clapped his hands together and pointed at the fire. "Since everyone is up, I suggest we get a meal going. The Fighter test could be revealed at any time."

Twenty minutes later, the others had gathered what they had collected during the shipwreck, or what they had in their storage pouches. They had put together a sort of fish stew with the fish Aella had saved from her Merchant test, and the vegetables the others had in their pouches from the Resource tests.

Gemini held up a glittering silver sword, a grin on his face.

"Where on earth did you get that?" Gemina protested, reaching across to take it from him.

He held it away from her and wagged a finger in her face. "Found it floating in the wreckage," he said.

"That's nothing," Gemina retorted. "I've got something even better."

"Yeah, right," Sigmund said, jostling her on her shoulder.

Gemina grinned, pulling a leather case from the large leather bag sitting next to her. She opened the lid and showed the group, the interior holding a long, thin chain with a curved blade at the end. She laughed at Gemini's open mouth and his wide eyes. "Told you I scored better."

And I have a net. At least I can catch food with it. But I'll need a weapon.

"I've got daggers," Maeva added.

"I found some cans of food," the other woman said.

Aella looked at her, surprised. The woman had barely said a word the entire time they were in the cave. She was different from the others, petite, with gray skin and hair, and glowing yellow eyes. Gemini had introduced her as Aeliena, but no one knew much about her.

"Aye, me too," Sigmund said. "Not much though, I'm afraid."

"What about you, Aella?" Gemini asked.

She reached into her pouch and pulled out the wadded up net. "Just a net," she said.

Maeva's eyebrows drew together as she held out a hand toward Aella. "Let me see."

Aella handed it to her, and the group watched as she untangled the net, then pulled something shiny from one of the strands. "This isn't just your average fishing net," she said, holding the sharp silver needle up so the firelight danced off of it. "It's a snare, for land or water use. It's perfect for catching small game or fish." She pointed to the tip of the barb. "You can dip them in poison or sedative. Then your prey wanders in and withers dies or is sedated enough for you to get it out of the netting. It can be built on too, made bigger with more materials by an Alpha Merchant. Good job—you would do well as a Resource player."

Aella chuckled as Maeva slid the barn back into its place and handed the net to her.

"Food and a weapon—" Gemini said, laughing. "Looks like we have a winner here."

Aella stared down at the net, barely touching it.

"Don't worry—" Maeva said, leaning over and touching the net at the top. "The barbs are only primes if you tighten this loop here."

Aella smiled and nodded as she folded the net back up and placed it into her bag. "I'll remember that."

"Let's eat," Sigmund said, as he lifted a bowl to the air. "Soup's done."

***

"Players," the mechanical voice echoed, reverberating off of the rocks and trees of the island.

Aella moved from her spot at the top of the cliff, pulling her legs up from hanging over the edge and into a squatting position. Around her, her group began to move from their positions as well, readying themselves and their weapons.

Good luck everyone.

"It's been a pleasure," Gemini's voice rang out.

"See you in Arvium at the City Square during the Ceremony," Sigmund yelled from above.

Aella smiled as the calls rang out over the mountaintop, and a cool breeze blew over her, blowing her hair out of her eyes. She looked over the repaired island, the sunlight sparkling on the black water of the sea that stretched to the horizon.

"You have been gifted the use of all Apprentice Fighter Defense spells for the duration of this test. You will be tested on your skills as an Elite player in conjunction with this test. Your goal: to kill or capture a Griffin and enter the portal to Arvium with it. You have four hours. Good luck and may you find what you are looking for."

"Let's get us some monsters," Maeva screamed.

Aella's mouth widened into a grin. These people—they're amazing.

"Let's do this" she shouted.

* * * * * * * * * *

A shoutout to @vkbloodgood for her support for Arvium from Day 1 and for voting on every chapter! A shoutout to @ElvenFireball too for voting on every chapter! You two are awesome!! It means so much to me to see that little notification every time I upload a chapter--you keep me going and keep me uploading every week!

Also as a side note, I have moved Arvium to Friday updates to better match Wattpad's ranking algorithms. See you next week!

As a means of a survey, what are y'all's thoughts toward the game so far? Of Aella? What would you like to see different? Is there anything you didn't like? What about the characters names? Are they too hard to pronounce?