856 C-4, Rain Month 2, Moon 28
After leaving the classroom, I began thinking about what I could do for the next four hours. At first, I thought about going to find Ca’al and see what he was up to, but then I thought better of it. I don’t want to be overbearing or anything, so maybe I’ll just do some magic training. I didn’t get to do my daily exercises yesterday, after all.
With that, I went to the nearest portal and took myself to the outdoor training grounds. Since there were still a few hours until the practical exam, and since there were also not too many students on campus, it probably should be deserted, meaning I should be able to use the entire grounds to practice some of my more powerful primordial spells without worrying about anyone else. Maybe I could even do full incantations instead of the short forms.
But when I arrived, I was surprised to see not one but two people—a guy and a girl—there already, and they seemed to be having an intense argument about something.
“You’re soooo stupid! There isn’t a better Slinger out there than Hans! He’s not only got the accuracy of a Celestial but also the leadership of one too. I can’t even count how many times he’s led his team to a win from the crappiest situations!” the girl exclaimed.
“The fact that they find themselves in those situations at all is a testament to how shitty they are in the first place.”
“They just need time to warm up! The fact that they can consistently pull a win from the jaws of defeat makes them the best! But hey, maybe their ten-match win streak is just a fluke.”
“It is. They never have a clean win. It’s like they’re allergic to it. It’s the same pattern every match. Each member is outmatched by their counterpart, making them lose control over the map, and ultimately, they have no choice but to rely on the other team’s mistakes to win. It’s literally just Hans puppeting them after they get behind. The other six on the team aren’t good,” the guy huffed.
“So, what does that say about the other teams that lose to them? Losing to a ‘shit’ team despite being ahead most of the match is kinda pathetic, don’t you think? Plus, Hans being able to do that consistently makes him the best player in the league by far.”
“Okay. Hold on. Are you seriously putting Hans over the three-time MVP and undisputed best Infiltrator, Yhile?!” the guy exclaimed.
“Sure, three-time MVP, but—remind me—how many championships does he have?”
“It’s just a matter of time.”
“Always a finalist, but never the winner. So sad. Tell me again how a forever second-place loser deserves the title of best in the league?” the girl scoffed.
Citadel Conquest (CitCon) was probably the realm’s biggest sport. It was a fairly simple game where two teams of seven, each with one goal, siege the enemy citadel and try to eliminate the opponent’s Celestial Gem. Of course, many obstacles stood in the way of that; the majority of which came from a humongous field filled with constantly changing terrain, dangerous neutral monsters, shifting weather and time of day, neutral objectives that buffed the team that completed the requirements or debuffed the other team, and so on. Also, “humongous” might not be enough to properly cover just how huge the field they competed on was; it was the size of a great city. If someone were to run, unassisted by magic, from one end to the other without stopping, it’d probably take them two days, and that was being generous. That was why there were various portals on the maps that the players could use to get around, though these portals could easily be rigged with traps by either team. There were a lot more strategies and depth to it, but I didn’t really feel like recalling every last one detail right now. After all, there was someone I wanted to talk to.
“Ca’al!” I called out, my heart racing.
The two of them stopped mid-sentence and turned toward me.
“Oh, hey!” The first one to wave to me was the guy, who was my age. With black hair and a matching pair of eyes, he was wearing the school uniform, sans the blazer, and he had his usual sword sheathed at his hip. “Haven’t seen you in a bit. Where’ve you been?”
“Hey, don’t run away from the conversation just because your girlfriend’s here,” his conversation partner snapped. She was a female beastkin by the name of Nayira, who was the leader of the combat track’s first level.
“H-He’s not my boyfriend!” I stammered, flustered. But do we really look that way?
“I’m not running.”
He’s not denying it?!
“What’s the point of running from a conversation I already won?” he said.
“Humph. I’d love a slice of the delusional pie you’re eating,” Nayira scoffed.
“Maybe then you can at least pretend that you’ve won an argument.”
“A-Anyway.” I could sense tensions rising, so I tried changing the subject. “I guess you’ve both been told about the new student who’s taking the combat placement exam today, right?”
“Mm-hmm, yeah,” Nayira said, raising her hands behind her head so she could rest it against them. “Don’t know much about them. President Victoria was all like ‘Try not to lose too fast.’” Her face soured. “Stupid, arrogant vampire.”
“Oh yeah, she visited me this morning too,” Ca’al recalled. “She said she’s rooting against me.”
“So, you know how it feels. Her words hurt, don’t they?” Nayira said, putting her arm around Ca’al and nodding understandingly.
Does your arm really need to be around him? But I guess it’s just Nayira... She doesn’t have to be that close to him though, right?
“Well, she certainly was acting like her usual self,” Ca’al started, Nayira nodding along, satisfied that she could share her pain with him. “But she was strangely encouraging too. She passed me her half-eaten scone and was all like ‘You’ll need your strength.’”
“What?!” Both Nayira and I screamed out, causing Ca’al to flinch.
“Why did she treat you so nicely?! I want a scone too!” Nayira whined.
“You ate her half-eaten scone?!” I exclaimed. So, like, their mouths touched the same part of the pastry? Isn’t that what people call an indirect kiss?!
“I don’t know what both of you are getting so worked up over... Anyway, it doesn’t matter. I doubt the new student’s gonna get past Rhand anyway,” Ca’al said.
“Hey! Don’t you mean me?!” Nayira angrily huffed, folding her arms. “When was the last time anyone got past me?”
“Just before the previous school year ended,” I quipped.
“Yeah, and that was a full three months ago!”
“Coincidentally, that was also the most recent combat placement exam,” I pointed out.
“Rrrgh! Hanging onto technicalities like that is why you’ll never get laid!” Nayira huffed.
I could feel my face turning red. “Sh-Shut up! I’m just waiting for the right person!”
“All you’re doing is waiting for that ‘right person’ to be swept away from under your nose,” she scoffed.
“Have you been laid?!” I snapped back.
“Pfft. Of course not. Are you stupid? I’m a beastkin; I don’t lay eggs.”
Both Ca’al and I fell silent, not sure what to do here. Suddenly, all the redness in my face vanished, and all that was left was a deep pity.
“Let’s try a little harder at school, huh? I’ll help tutor you,” I offered.
“I’ll lend you my notes too or whatever you need. Want me to grab you some jerky? It’s your favorite, right?” Ca’al said sympathetically.
“Why am I being pitied all of a sudden?! Rrrgh, whatever. Okay, sure, some people get past me, but at least I’m not crushing their hopes like a certain sword-wielding gatekeeper.”
“Hey, don’t look at me. More people get stopped by Rhand, and losing to him is a lot worse than losing to me,” Ca’al said.
“Oh, yeah. I take it back. He’s the worst,” Nayira cackled.
“He really is,” Ca’al agreed.
“No contest.” I nodded. “Is that what you two are here? Warming up before the placement exam?”
“Why would I need to warm up for a placement exam?” Nayira asked, a puzzled look on her face. “The match’s gonna be over in a flash,” she said, quickly releasing a flurry of quick jabs.
“President Victoria told me I had to be here. I didn’t wanna take any chances, so I came...a little early,” Ca’al said, a little nervously.