After weeks of training and research, Miri and Anne were finally able to participate in the Pentacle Trials. The trials were set to take place in the Grand Salem Hall of the Spirit Point District, which was at the most northern point of the city. Even as the two women approached the hall, they could already see the crowds of participants flooding the streets as they entered the building itself—a castle-like structure decorated with lavish architectural designs all revolving around the theme of pentacle icons and purple banners.
Miri and Anne looked around them with a fair amount of awe and fascination as they were being funneled into the building with the rest of the crowd. There were probably around hundreds, maybe even thousands, of participants at this trial. With this many people competing, there’s no doubt in Miri’s mind that the competition was going to be fierce. Of course, she’d already suspected that it was going to be so, but seeing the actual scale of it around her had truly given her a new perspective of it.
Once Miri and Anne entered the building, they were led into a large, circular concourse about the size of several football fields—one with a tall, purple dome ceiling overlaid with the symbol of a large pentacle that stretched all the way to its perimeter. Meanwhile, at the edges of the concourse were rows upon rows of seats where spectators of the event were going to sit. Miri and Anne managed to spot Madame Laveau and Isaiah sitting amongst the crowd of spectators, coming to cheer them on.
The two women stood for a while as the contestants continued flooding into the concourse, filling the area little by little. As the area was being filled, Miri’s anticipation towards the trials grew more and more intense, making her increasingly impatient for what’s about to come. While waiting, she looked around her to survey the other contestants, feeling curious as to who would be participating in this event alongside her.
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In this trial, anyone could potentially be a friend or an enemy. Best to get a feel as to who her opponents were before she faced them. Looking around, she was surprised at the diversity of the contestants. There were people of different races, genders, ages, and overall general appearances. Some seemed to congregate into groups of about a dozen people—likely groups of trialrunners—while others remained solitary.
Using her special level-scanning ability, she was able to focus her sight on each of them in order to figure out their level. Due to the extensive amount of training for the past week or so, Miri and Anne had leveled up quite a bit, reaching up to level 10. Based on that, she’d be able to discern the combat prowess of her opponents relative to theirs. Those who were below level 10 should be a piece of cake to handle. Those who were above level 10 might be a bit more difficult and therefore should be someone to keep an eye out for.
Fortunately for her, a majority of the contestants around her were below her level. However, she was able to single out some that were above her level. Some between levels 11 to 15, a few between levels 16 to 20, and one who’s a remarkable level 23—perhaps the highest level she was able to spot around her so far.
That level 23 belonged to a woman around Miri’s age—one with a radiant, elegant beauty to boot. She had long, wavy blue hair, with her bangs stylishly covering her right eye. Her outfit was a mage robe that had an aesthetically pleasing mixture of white, light-blue, and dark-blue. She held a long, white staff with a large, blue gem attached at one of its ends. Overall, this woman possessed an aura of graceful, stoic confidence—one that signified her as someone who could probably win this competition with relative ease.
Miri stared at the blue-haired woman with a quiet sense of intrigue. As she was staring, she noticed the blue-haired woman turning slightly to stare back at her, the two of them making eye-contact for just a brief moment.
