Chapter 99: The Twist (Patreon)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Lu6kZfBnMnRUctOf4WSVdXCnE4yvCsQXSNKU1kdYRZ8/edit?usp=sharing

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The morning of the test dawned overcast and drizzly – a fairly normal occurrence for the late spring around the capital. Thankfully, the temperature was warm enough that it wasn’t completely miserable, especially for those students like Cayden with a physically-focused build to endure the slight chill.

Still, the weather was enough of a variable that Cayden began to think of how it might affect their various strategies. At the rate it was currently raining, he didn’t think it would be an issue, but if it picked up that could change.

Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to control the weather, and little he could do to change their strategies, at least not without talking to his teammates. And as they were walking in a long line with the rest of the students of their class across campus to an arena, it didn’t seem like there would be an opportunity to do so with any discretion.

They entered the stands of the arena and began filing into their seats. Unlike the previous tests, it seemed that the instructors intended for all the students to be able to observe the matches between other teams, which was a curious development in Cayden’s eyes. Wouldn’t that give teams that competed later an advantage over those which competed earlier? He supposed the instructors must have had a reason for it, though.

In a lucky turn, Jeremy’s team happened to be next to Cayden’s team in their place in the line, and Cayden maneuvered around Velic and Marvenal to be next to his friend, returning Jeremy’s friendly nod without quite looking at him as they filed into the stands. Already seated a few rows up, Cayden noticed the princess’ team when Henrietta looked back at him with a smile and a wave.

Cayden gave an awkward wave back.

“What’s up with that?” Jeremy asked from the side of his mouth as they settled into their seats to wait for the tests to begin, those teams behind them in line filing into the rows of seats behind them.

“What’s up with what?” Cayden responded to his formine friend, looking forward into the center of the empty arena.

“You and Henrietta,” Jeremy said, and Cayden winced. Jeremy pointed a finger at Cayden’s face before continuing in a whisper. “Exactly that! That shouldn’t be the expression you get on your face when someone mentions the girl you’re courting.”

“It’s…complicated,” Cayden finally responded after a beat of silence. He didn’t want to outright lie to his friend, not if he didn’t have to, but Jeremy knew him well enough to see through any other deflections he might try to make.

Jeremy looked over at Cayden, examining the face of his gargoyle friend who refused to return his gaze, before speaking. “You know…just because she’s noble doesn’t mean you can’t say no.”

Cayden almost looked at Jeremy in alarmed surprise before he managed to catch himself. “What?!”

“I’m just saying. I know she’s a noble, but that doesn’t give her complete power over you. If you aren’t interested, you can still say no – you’re strong enough that there will be other opportunities in the future for you to marry into nobility, if you’re interested.”

“No, that’s not it,” Cayden hurried to correct. “Not it at all. It’s just…” he shook his head, unwilling to share the truth and unable to come up with a convincing alternative. “...could we not talk about this now? The test should be starting soon.”

Jeremy gave Cayden another appraising glance, looking unsure, before a slow smile formed on his face. He shrugged. “Sure. I’ve already got what I needed – if you’re my team’s opponent, you’re off your game.”

Cayden released a bark of laughter. “Keep telling yourself that – it might give you some comfort when you’re crushed under our heels.”

“Oh really?” Jeremy laughed.

From there, the smack talk intensified, their claims about their superiority getting more and more ridiculous as they continued to one-up each other. Jeremy was halfway through his explanation of how Cayden would have to drop out of the academy from being too fat from all the words he was going to have to eat when Instructor Blyre appeared at the edge of the arena in front of the crowd.

This arena was a little different from the ones they’d previously used. For one, it was much larger, about twice the length of a football field and four times as wide. And rather than being filled with sand like most of the other arenas, this one looked more like a random section of the Lost Forest than it did anything else. Hundreds of trees dotted the area, interspersed with smaller vegetation and even a small stream flowing through the middle. Cayden could see the benefit of having such an arena that more closely resembled the wild or the environment one could find in a dungeon, but he was baffled by the sheer extravagance of it all. Only a few miles outside of the capital, they’d be able to find an environment identical to the one before them – yet they felt it was necessary to devote an entire massive arena to recreating that environment.

It wasn’t his place to question the wisdom of such a decision, though, and he focused on the instructor who stood at the front of the arena. The backdrop of the shadowed trees, coupled with the fact that Instructor Blyre appeared completely dry despite the continued drizzle, made her dark visage even scarier than normal.

It only took a few seconds for silence to descend upon the stands of the arena, the instructor’s presence inspiring immediate respect, before she spoke.

“Welcome, students, to your next test. As many of you may know, this test will pit teams against each other in this arena in a game of ‘Reunite the Lovers.’ For those of you who are not familiar, the rules are simple. The arena will be divided into two territories, separated by the stream, with each team assigned a territory. Each team will be given a ‘lover’, which will be a pole similar to this one.” She gestured to her right, where a ten-foot-long pole of indeterminate material that was maybe an inch in diameter was stuck in the ground. “The goal is to touch the poles together within your team’s territory. Whoever does so first within the thirty-minute time limit is the winner – simple.”

She paused as mumbles rose up from the stands, a few triumphant smiles on the faces of those teams who’d prepared and were especially suited for the challenge and frowns on everyone else.

“Of course, this is Delver’s Academy – we can’t have one of your tests be so simple,” Instructor Blyre continued, and the noise from the stands silenced as the students refocused on her. “Each test will include some unique variation on the ‘lover’ that will force teams to adapt your strategies, including…” she gestured to the nearby ‘lover’, which lit up with glowing runes before extending an extra ten feet in the air, now twenty feet long. “Of course, there are many more variations than just this, but I can’t spoil all the surprises early. You’ll get to experience your team’s own unique variation once the test starts,” she said with a fanged smile. “Are there any questions?”

If anyone had questions, they weren’t bold enough to yell them out then and there, so after a few moments of silence, Instructor Blyre gave a shallow nod.

“Remember – while you will obviously be competing for victory, you will be judged on much more than that. Even in loss you can impress us, and in victory you can disappoint. We’ll be watching.” She paused once again, as if waiting for any more questions, but was once again met with silence. “Very well then. We will begin with team twelve against team eighteen – report to the entrance of the arena, and we’ll get you started. For all other teams…I suggest you watch carefully, and attempt to learn as much as possible.”

Just as inexplicably as she had appeared, the instructor disappeared, and Cayden glanced at his teammates with wide eyes. In contrast to the smug smiles that had previously adorned the faces of Velic and many of the other students who’d thought themselves at an advantage with this test, they now wore pensive frowns as they considered the ‘twist’ the instructors had decided to throw their way.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much they could do about it, not without first seeing the breadth of modifications to the ‘lovers’ the instructors were willing to make. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be called for the first few tests and would get the advantage of seeing others compete before being forced into the arena themselves. The team numbers they had called had nothing to do with the overall rankings of teams and were simply the numbers assigned to teams when they had first been created. If it weren’t for the report he’d memorized referencing the teams by the same numbers, Cayden would have had no way to match which numbers corresponded to which team. Teams twelve and eighteen were two teams lower in the rankings and less interesting than some other potential matches that could have occurred, but it didn’t stop him from directing his full focus to the arena in front of him as they marched onto different sides of the arena a few minutes later.

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Sorry for the gap -- gonna post a lot for the next few days to try and catch up as much as I can