CHAPTER 18 - THE EXCLUSION PRINCIPLE

Rodney received several notifications when he woke up. I ignored the messages and dismissed my panel. He tried to stand but for some reason his body just twitched like a fish out of water.

Aer had been watching him in his sleep. Aer suggested that he should rest more but he didn't feel tired.

"What caused this?".

"Everything you can think of. You overworked your brain and used powerful items even though you have a low level. You're just suffering from the consequences of your recklessness. I...".

"How long until I can move?".

"That is up to you, your brain is mixing up the information you're trying to send to your body. It's not something that can be cured in a few minutes or hours."

"That sounds like I was poisoned with a neurotoxin. How are those items helpful?".

"They're supposed to be used only in desperate times."

"But I can't fight without them."

"Use physical contact to activate your abilities. There are also items that can help you on this Level."

"This is annoying."

"I know, right?".

Jolly appeared in front of Rodney. He stood on his chest and placed his skull close to his head. His empty socket had a faint eerie red glow.

"I'm willing to help you out. But you'll have to do as I say. There's a level twelve Savant who's looking for teammates. I'll make you level twelve if you join his team. I'll also fix your paralysis and grant you a few credits."

"Deal!".

"I knew that you were a reasonable man."

The skeleton smiled and then jumped off. His body dissipated before he hit the floor. Rodney tried to sit up and his body responded perfectly. He checked his Stats. He was level twelve but he still had a measly 5cm range.

He switched to notifications. A new one had appeared after he became level twelve. He now had a destination. He was about to close the panel when he noticed a weird notification.

The planetary system.

Bounty... Dangerous entity... One million credits.....

Sounds like an exercise in stupidity.....

Then he saw the name and picture of the target. He laughed so hard that he made Aer worry about his mental health.

How are they going to treat me if I get serious?

A random idea popped in his head. Then he asked Aer how she was found.

"Everything you do is recorded and anyone can watch it."

"Eh ?... Savants too?".

"Yes. Except you're in a building or under special circumstances everything you do is.....".

"Can I do something about it?".

"There are items and abilities that can help, I'd recommend using this one."

System Hack.

An ability to manipulate the data in the Playground.

Any form of data?

Isnt this overpowered?

"What are the limitations?".

"None, but you could damage your brain and body if you try anything absurd."

"Who has this ability?".

"No Savant has it, according to the database."

He's hiding himself with it.

An impressive Savant.

"Are there any other invasions of privacy?".

"Telepaths."

"I remember seeing an item that can protect me from mental attacks."

"Yes, but it's.....".

"Equip it!".

Rodney activated the ability. He disabled the video function and then he focused on Spatial Awareness.

Teleport!

He wandered around the city looking at items but buying none. He could create them if he needed to.

Aer advised him to get some anyway but he felt that he might need the credits later on. Around noon, he noticed Savants in the new section. He moved to a darker area and sat with his head down.

They passed by him and entered a building. He followed them. Four girls and two boys in their teens with a boy who appeared to be less than eleven.

He entered the building only to be intercepted by two Savants.

"You're alone, right?", his hand on Rodney's shoulder as he spoke, "Join my team."

"That's not the plan,"the girl beside him placed her her fingers on her forehead.

"Sure, I'll join your team."

"Are you sure?".

"See, I told you he's suspicious. Look at his head."

What's wrong with my head?

Rodney touched his head but he felt nothing abnormal. The girl knelt and looked up at him. Rodney resisted the urge to punch her. She looked like she was worried about him even after she admitted that he was suspicious.

"What's your name? Why can't I read your thoughts? And why were you watching us?".

"Zimmerman, an item, just happened to. Is that all?".

Rodney answered quickly and it shocked her. Her surprise quickly changed to dissatisfaction. She was about to say something when the boy beside her introduced himself without caution.

"Darwin. Zimmerman, you say? Like Michael Zimmerman? To think he'd be recognized by the system. I wonder how he feels when he watches you."

His cheerful face didn't make his words any less dark. Rodney realized he was frowning and he changed the topic.

"Is he always like this?".

"Sadly, yes but he's a good guy, energetic and positive minded."

"Ah..... I see. So, he's an idiot".

Darwin was pretending that he didn't hear what she said but he was clearly embarrassed by it. Rodney's words shattered his happiness and the pieces were scattered by the winds when the girl turned away and didn't refute his statement.

He had suffered fatal wounds from the interaction. He walked away lifelessly.

"We use crystal codenames. I'm Volta, Quartz. That's Nightingale and Cousteau, Jasper and Gypsum. The weirdo at the back is Alcubierre, Ruby and finally the girl in black is Lapis. She doesn't have a name or abilities".

Volta pointed at two girls checking out equipment near her then at a boy at the back staring at something and finally at a girl who stood at a corner watching them with keen eyes.

"Darwin is?".

"Osmium."

"So that idiot can't be killed. Then I'll be diamond."

"That's cocky. Are you insinuating that you're better than us?"

"You're free to interpret it however you want. Everything has its use even if there are things better than it."

She didn't look like she accepted what he said but she ignored it and went to Darwin. Rodney went to Lapis but she only gave him short, carefully picked words to his questions that didn't give him any idea of how she had no abilities.

She was unyielding and boring. He lost interest in her and went to Alcubierre.

A lightsaber.

So that's what he's been looking at.

Volta did call him a weirdo but he looked pretty normal.

Rodney could afford it but apparently he couldn't. Rodney wasn't going to buy it anyway. He tried to speak to the boy but he was ignored completely.

Is there something wrong with all of them?

Rodney decided to leave them alone and took a nap. He had done as Jolly asked. He wondered if Jolly had a hand in the chance encounter with Volta's team.

He woke up a few minutes later and saw Gabriel and Raphael running around the store.

He looked at his hands, he verified that he was invisible. The twins ran to the back, where Alcubierre was. Isabel followed them and then he saw Kathryn. She turned to his direction, her golden eyes focused intensely on him. He reminded himself that he was invisible then he noticed the parrot.

It was already too late, she had seen Aer. He prepared to teleport when he saw her take a step in his direction but she was distracted by Darwin and Cousteau's sudden departure. It was at that moment that Rodney realized that Volta, Nightingale and Lapis were already gone. He checked if Alcubierre was still present. He saw the twins leave and soon the shop had only him and Alcubierre left.

He unconsciously deactivated his ability when they left. Tom and Becky entered next but they didn't recognize him. Alcubierre came to him, tapped his shoulder and left the shop. On his way out he sensed a Savant approaching at an insane speed.

The two pressed their backs to a wall. They sensed the battling savants. Rodney wondered if Alcubierre had sensed it all the way from the shop. He didn't have that level of control or range with his abilities.

"Stop fighting!", Darwin's voice boomed over the noise of battle.

"Looks like it's finally over.", Alcubierre whispered.

The Savants dispersed reluctantly and the two in hiding came out.

"You revealed your ability, is that okay?".

"She already gave them my name, it doesn't matter anymore."

Alcubierre turned to Cousteau with a gaze that would melt tungsten. She looked like she felt bad about her mistake and his anger disappeared instantly. He sighed.

"Let's forget about it. New kid, you're with me."

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The thirteenth Level's test was located in a city on the edge of the desert. There was a coliseum in the center and a beach to the north. The city was modeled similar to a 17th century Arabian one. The Crystals avoided interacting with the NPCs and headed straight for the coliseum in the center.

Everyone already knew about it and it was filled up with a little over sixty savants. A few seconds to the deadline, the strongest team ran in. They were arguing about something even though everyone's attention was on them.

Jolly appeared in the centre of the coliseum and asked everyone to take a seat. The arguing didn't end as they climbed to the top and grudgingly sat in two distinct groups.

Rodney turned back to the skeleton. He hadn't payed much attention to it before but now that he was seeing it again, Jolly's movements looked ridiculous but no one was laughing. Probably because he was associated with life and death games.

"Rejoice Savants! The Creator designed this game personally for you. The rules are simple, you will be split into sets of seven. The seven of you will battle against each other, one on one, once. You must win at least three battles to pass the test. In addition, the savant with the most victories in a set gets a bonus and the savant with the most losses will be eliminated. If you have the most victories across all sets, your party also gets a bonus but if you have the most losses across all sets, your party will be eliminated, evicted, exterminated. Fighting among spectators is prohibited. If two savants can't come to a decision before three minutes are up, both lose the match".

A giant screen appeared at the top of the coliseum on four sides. It displayed first set and 21 rows and two columns.

"Now then, let's begin the selection!"

The first and six other rows lit up with a Savant's name.

"Newton!"

The second column of the first and six other rows lit up Alcubierre.

There goes hiding our names. Was there any point in doing so up till now?

"Versus! Alcubierre!".

Jolly snapped his fingers and he disappeared in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared Alcubierre and Newton faced themselves on the field.

The screen changed to a timer.

"Wait, I don't want to fight. If we do this right, it's possible for everyone to pass and nobody gets hurt."

Newton said it gently but her voice was heard by all.

She was right, everyone had to fight six times and win three. If a set had three victories and losses for all nobody had to take the penalty but no one also got the bonus.

Or

Everyone takes the penalty and the bonus. Nothing in the rules specified....

"Oh ho ho...An interesting proposition from the strongest Savant," Jolly's voice pierced the silence, "Just to clarify, if you all have three victories, I have no choice but to pass you however nobody gets the bonus also and that's just sad isn't it?".

"I see, but if you want us to believe you, you have to surrender your first three games,"Alcubierre answered.

"No problem. I surrender."

Alcubierre's name turned green and Newton's turned red.

"Well that was boring. Second battle, Zimmerman versus Coulomb."

"I surrender", Coulomb said the instant he appeared on the field. His name turned red and they were returned to their seats.

"Schrodinger versus... Hmmmn..... A nameless Savant."

The stadium was filled with whispers and several spectators' hands were moving in the air.

The girls appeared on the field.

"My team has surrendered twice, prove to us that we can trust your team. Concede this match."

Did they plan this?

Did they know about the match-ups ahead of time?

"No thank you, I'm not going to surrender when I think I can win."

"You think you can beat me?".

"Easily."

"Thirty seconds gone!".

Jolly's words made Lapis swing into action, she took two handguns out and sprayed a barrage of bullets at Schrodinger.

That was fast.

However, Schrodinger was unharmed. She walked towards Lapis as she continued shooting but none of the bullets hit her. They weren't deflected or blocked. They were all on trajectories that couldn't touch her.

But if she gets too close then...

Schrodinger disappeared. At least that was how it looked like to Lapis. She had ducked while moving to the left and switched from a casual walking pace to a sprint.

Her leaping roundhouse kick was blocked by Lapis' hand. Schrodinger reached for the guns but Lapis jumped away. She only touched it with her finger tips.

The guns were trained on Schrodinger at a range that Lapis wouldn't miss. She fired.

The result was spectacular.

Lapis' guns exploded and injured her. She screamed in pain and that was Schrodinger's chance. She dashed again and strangled her from behind.

"Concede, I don't want to kill you."

Lapis didn't listen anyway, she struggled to escape but she was gradually losing strength and would pass out soon. Her injuries only made her situation worse.

Schrodinger's sigh echoed the arena.

"You don't have any abilities, you can't beat me. You are weak."

Um..... Now she sounds like a two bit villain.

Oh well, Lapis has a severe disadvantage, she could never beat them. She should be glad they're willing to let everyone win.

A loud noise interrupted Rodney's thoughts and got everyone's attention. There was no point watching anymore so most people were slow on the uptake.

"Was that a gunshot?", Someone asked stupidly.

Schrodinger fell to the floor cradling her stomach. She was bleeding out on the field. The blank first column lit up and Schrodinger's name turned red.

They were returned to their positions while everyone stared at the blood on the field speechless. A loud scream from the back reminded them that what had just transpired was real. Slowly but surely everyone remembered just how terrifying the games could be.

"A wonderful display from the Nameless Savant, truly, you deserve a medal. Oh, one small detail. Savants who die lose from all their remaining matches, since they can't show up. Fourth battle begins, Einstein versus Alcubierre".

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