51st of Season of Air, 80th year of the 32nd cycle

  Newt’s plan was simple. It was so simple, in fact, he was certain that the realm spirit would consider it cheating. Then again, the last time he believed he had cheated, Newt suffered losses that had outweighed his winnings greatly.

  He reached the ledge and tore a pair of inch-wide ribbons off his sleeve. He made a double loop around his knuckles, wrapping them in cloth, leaving his fingertips free before running for the next cliff, once more abandoning the reward nest.

  A third of the way up, Newt’s fingertips touched the viscous oil. He jerked back his right hand immediately, but it was too late. Without panic, Newt pushed the cloth he had prepared up higher, covering the tips of his fingers, and kept climbing, ignoring that handhold.

  Newt expected he would soon encounter another oil trap, but that did not happen. The next time he dipped his fingers into the sticky oil, it was with his other hand, and the simple trick of pushing the cloth onto his fingers solved the issue.

  Things are different. Ever since double or triple oil traps became a thing, they were always aimed at his slightly weaker left hand. All of them. But with him so far from the lead position, the challenge no longer seemed to conspire against him actively.

  Am I imagining things, or is that really the case? Newt didn’t know, and decided to assume that the realm guardian’s malice was reserved for the lead group.

  ***

  “And Newstar Salamandra finally thought of protecting his hands once he got oil on them.” Sleek chuckled, and Lady Woodhopper sent her unspoken regards to his entire lineage as Northstar picked up after a moment’s silence.

  “He is the ninety-seventh contestant to have started using a protective measure to counter this particular trap. In all honesty, he is young and at the peak of the fourth realm. Newstar simply lacks life experience.”

  You tell him, Northstar.

  In all honesty, the trial was boring, just a bunch of people scaling a wall, but the woman was doing her best. At least she offered useful or interesting trivia, unlike the commentator she shared the broadcast with, who went from sensational exclamations to mouthing random nonsense.

  Woodhopper glanced at the gatemaster and his knowing smirk. Is it possible? She understood the meaning behind his smug look.

  Did Dandelion really lose on purpose to remove Explorer’s Gate’s competition?

  On one hand, it sounded impossible, on the other, the ducal houses eliminated were the ones which stood a chance of squeezing their way into the top fifteen.

  The Diamondsouls weren’t finished yet, but they were lagging behind Newstar. And unlike Newstar, they weren’t catching up to the lead group, meaning they would get eliminated in the next five to eight hundred participants. The royal family and their retainers focused on mind over body, and this challenge would humble them into the lower half of the board, harming their overall score.

  Woodhopper observed the contestants with all her senses, keeping her attention on their order’s elites. There was nothing nail-biting or stressful about the competition. In fact, it was almost like a local, order-hosted challenge for juniors. One where she was looking to see which students stood out and were worth greater investment and attention.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  As for her order’s team, all ten fourth-realmers were pulling their weight. They weren’t in the lead group, but they weren’t in the last one either. Quite the contrary, most were firmly in the second quarter of all participants, a solid result all things considered. Especially with Rexheart and Emeraldstreak pushing two whole cliff walls ahead of the others, but still behind Newstar.

  “They are doing fine,” the gatemaster reassured her in a calm, grandfatherly voice. “The worst possible scenario, a very unlikely one, is that we finish fifteenth. Four teams that were faring better than us eliminated themselves, and we’ll probably do as well as a ducal house, or possibly better. This will be the best position our order has ever claimed. It might be the best position any order has ever claimed. I’m sure the young lady doing the broadcast would know.”

  The two kept watching and listening to the duo who narrated the match. By the twentieth bluff, Newt had rejoined the lead group and started collecting his bonuses. On the twenty-first, he took the first place, but when he reached his nest and collected his bonus, he let go and allowed himself to fall.

  Woodhopper watched patiently, the trial had started nearly an hour ago, and while at first twenty to thirty contestants had fallen off the cliff, the competition had reached the point where fifty to seventy fell off at once, and yet there still remained a bit over fourteen hundred climbers.

  “They are slowing down, but the speed of elimination is picking up.” The gatemaster sensed Lady Woodhopper’s mana sense erratically roaming the projections, counting the remaining participants. “I don’t think we will see more than another fifteen-sixteen cliffs, but that depends on how high Newstar can climb on his own.”

  Lady Woodhopper hesitated, but decided to voice her thoughts. “How much do you think Newstar’s trick of claiming two bonuses will help us?”

  “In all honest, not much. Despite his hard work, he will move us one place up at most. If there are no surprises, we’re placing thirteenth overall. Meaning we’re going to get a reward meant for a ducal family and extra participants come next tournament.”

  The gatemaster’s evaluation matched Lady Woodhopper’s. The event was already over in his eyes, as it was in hers.

  ***

  Ignorant of the fact that his effort was wasted, Newt kept going. Fighting not just for every yard, but for every inch. He fell every two out of three cliffs, catching up, taking the lead, then dropping again, to push his order several dozen yards ahead of the others.

  But even with all his advantages, fatigue seeped its way into his muscles. By the thirtieth cliff, his calm breath had quickened.

  The rest of his order was probably out already, and the double claiming of rewards only countered a reward another team’s second strongest member had collected. The odds of finishing in the top ten were low and growing lower with each wall his teammates left unscaled and each reward they failed to collect.

  He did the numbers again and again, reaching different conclusions each time. He could give up, and it wouldn’t matter much. Even if he could climb the highest, it would only help his order several places up. Both were possible, depending more on other teams than it depended on him.

  “Well, you’re in a bad mood.” Maelstrom snapped Newt from his ruminations just as he pulled himself onto the ledge.

  He looked at her with a half-smile.

  “Are you here to fight?”

  “Quite the opposite, I am here to propose an alliance between our two organizations.”

  Newt looked at her, his eyebrow raised. What type of alliance could be had in a trial like the one they were taking? Maelstrom read Newt like a book.

  “The matter is simple. I am by far the most powerful member of my team. What I lack in explosive strength, not that it’s bad, just not as good, I make up for in endurance. I expect you and I will be the final two contestants, possibly that Bravesoul lug from the Thundertitans taking third place and duking it out with us for the second.”

  Newt blinked. “This is being broadcasted to the world.”

  “So? He knows he’s a lug, or do you think I should have used a more sophisticated word like a boor?”

  Newt knew Maelstrom understood what he was trying to say, and the woman was making fun of him on a live projection in front of his seniors, friends, and the rest of the general awakened population.

  “Oh, you mean that me, a woman, is saying I can outlast all these men in an endurance competition. Don’t worry, everyone knows gender plays no role in our world. It’s all about the talent and perfect mindset. Yes, no sexism at all.”

  She revealed her pearly teeth in a mischievous smile, and Newt barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. He collected himself for a split second before speaking.

  “So, what’s the alliance you have in mind?”