Soon, the 5-minute preparation phase was about to end, prompting all the contestants to ready themselves for when the actual trial was about to begin. A heavy, quiet tension hung in the air, almost like the calm before the storm, as all the contestants glanced at each other apprehensively—knowing that, within a short moment, they would all become each other’s opponents.
“Alright, contestants, the pre-trial phase is almost up,” Circe announced to everyone. “Soon, the real Scavenger Hunt is about to begin. Are you ready? On your marks…get set…GO!”
As soon as the signal was given, everyone began scattering outward in all directions from the circular platform with hurried speed. Some took off on foot, some rode on mounts, and some used other magical means to traverse the area. The mounts that were present in this trial were as numerous as they were varied, ranging from horses to dire wolves to griffins to velociraptors to a large, flightless, ostrich-like bird with yellow feathers that’s definitely, definitely not a chocobo from the Final Fantasy series. (It’s technically called a bococho. Completely different.)
Idris conjured a green vine that shot out from his arm and latched itself to a branch of a nearby tree, allowing him to grapple himself up towards it before swinging to another branch, one after the other. It’s a spell known as “Grappling Vine” and it’s favored by adventurers for both its movement and utility capabilities.
The three douche knights summoned their mounts in the form of three large male lions with saddles on their backs. These rideable lions were substantially larger than the regular lions Miri had seen back on Earth, not to mention that their thick manes and fur seemed almost brimming with a radiant, golden sheen—one that’s so unapologetically gaudy that it looked almost artificial. Funnily enough, these fantastically garish lions were just the type of mounts Miri would expect those douche knights to have as they seemed to fit their personalities almost to a tee.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
As for the other methods of magical traversal, each was more spectacular and bizarre than the last.
One contestant had imbued his entire body with a coat of yellow electricity before dashing off at an almost superhuman speed, leaving a trail of lighting sparks behind him as he passed. Another contestant summoned a large floating skull the size of a small car—one that’s covered with black flames—before sitting on top of it as it floated up into the sky. And yet another contestant conjured a scattering of bubbles hovering in front of her path before gracefully leaping up in the air and stepping her foot onto each of the bubbles—ones that were bouncy yet structurally stable enough to allow her to leap from one bubble to the next, almost like a series of floating stepping stones made of magical bubbles.
Each and every constant were able to travel in their own unique style, but they were all able to travel adequately nonetheless.
Not wanting to be left behind, Miri and Anne also summoned their own mounts, Tusko and Woolly, to their aid as they rode them to their destination. However, when placed next to some of the other mounts they saw, their mounts appeared considerably less majestic and impressive by comparison. Even so, they did not let that deter them from their mission. Both the thorn-tusk boar and the rockhorn sheep were loyal to their masters to a fault and that’s what really mattered.
As the two women rode together, Anne was the one doing the leading as she was the one who knew the location of one of the riddle runes.
“Anne, you sure you know where you’re going?” Miri asked.
“Yes, I am fairly sure. Just keep following me and we’ll be there shortly,” Anne replied.
“Alright, then,” Miri said.
