“Wait, was that what you meant when you said he made a deal with an other-planar being?” Kya asked.

  “Precisely!” Silver answered.

  “You said Heavenly,” Karria cut in. “What exactly do you mean by that?”

  “Oh, all races of the Upper Realms call themselves Heavenly, though I always thought that was quite presumptuous of them.”

  “Do we even have permission to be here?” Karria exclaimed, trying very hard to wrap her aching head around this concept.

  Her entire world view had just been flipped on its head, and here, Silver was acting as though this were completely normal.

  “Well, strictly speaking, the answer would be no,” he replied with a wink. “But I promise not to tell if you don’t!”

  Karria stared at him for a moment longer before shaking her head and turning away. She had no idea why they were here, nor what these Upper Realms were, but she was just too tired to care.

  “If you need me, I’ll be over by that rock, dying.”

  She then proceeded to stumble over to said rock and collapse with her back against it. To her surprise, the purple stone flexed as she sat, feeling absolutely nothing like the hard stone it was pretending to be.

  Maybe that’s just how rocks are here, she thought.

  She wasn’t complaining that she had a small modicum of comfort for the first time in weeks.

  “Don’t stop training!” Silver called out, breaking her from her semi-bliss.

  “Go shove it!” she yelled back. “I’m tired, and I need a break.”

  “No breaks, not for another hour,” Silver said, walking over to her, Kya following behind and still gawking at their surroundings.

  “Why not?” she asked bluntly.

  She was exhausted, and she didn’t think there was a single part of her that didn’t hurt. All she wanted to do was go to sleep and make the pain go away for a few hours.

  “Just trust that I know what I’m doing,” Silver said. “Keep going for another hour. I’ll get supper ready, and then you can go to sleep.”

  Karria wanted to argue but decided that she simply didn’t have the energy. Closing her eyes, she started to feel for her Core once again.

  “Eyes open and walking,” Silver called out as he headed towards the ocean.

  Gritting her teeth, Karria forced herself to her feet, every muscle protesting violently at the motion. Then, she began pacing across the beach as she tried once again to follow four light beams at once.

  The tiny lights seemed just a bit brighter to her when she began concentrating, but she just chalked that up to her being tired. Her head began hurting as soon as she began. She saw the light in her mind’s eye and began following it, splitting her concentration as soon as the next beam fired. She did this twice more and by now, her head felt like it was going to split open.

  Steam began pouring from her as he concentrated on keeping her mind locked on the four separate beams and the landscape before her. She honestly had no idea how she was doing this, and she started getting excited. The excitement was gone momentarily, as she lost sight once more.

  She’d managed to follow the light beams for nearly two seconds this time, so she was seeing some progress. Taking a deep breath, Karria suddenly felt oddly refreshed. New strength seemed to fill her then, sweeping away some of the aches in her body. She didn’t know why she felt better, just that she did.

  With renewed vigor, she once again tackled the exercise. An hour later, when Silver called an end, she felt so good that she honestly didn’t feel the need to stop. But, when she said she could keep going, Silver insisted she come to eat.

  “Why do I feel so refreshed?” she asked, biting into a piece of flatbread spread with some soft cheese.

  “Yeah, we’ve been traveling all day, but I feel like I’ve had a full night of sleep,” Kya added.

  “I see you’ve discovered the first upside to training here in Nexus,” Silver said with a grin. “Magic runs wild in this world, and the need for sleep is completely eliminated.”

  “Wait…” Karria said. “What you’re saying is that as long as we’re here, we won’t need to sleep, and we’ll feel fine?”

  “Exactly! Better than fine, actually. A week’s training here will be the same as two months in Laedrin. Your magic will advance faster, due to the density and your mental capacities will increase rapidly.”

  “How long will we be staying here?” Kya asked. “I’ve been having some trouble visualizing some of the exercises you gave me, so if this place is as good as you say, it would be beneficial to spend some time here.

  “Unfortunately, we have a bit over a week before the Transcended realize we’re here and come to tear the souls from our bodies.”

  “You sounded entirely too cheerful when you said that,” Karria noted, wondering if the man was ever not in a good mood.

  “Why shouldn’t I be happy? We have over a week to train in one of the most magic-rich places available to mortals. You’d better believe that I’m going to be taking advantage of this!”

  “You’re going to train here too?” Kya asked.

  “Of course! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. As soon as they realize there’s a gate here, they’ll likely try to seal it. They won’t succeed, of course, but they will set guards to make sure no one else sneaks in. So, let’s get back to it!”

  Seeing as she didn’t feel tired and the ambient magic had seemingly restored her, Karria got back to her feet without complaint and began the exercise once more. She still got a headache when she began, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been before. And, within six hours, she’d succeeded.

  Of course, when he saw that she’d mastered it, Silver immediately increased the amount, this time to twenty at once. If Karria had thought was completely insane before, she now had to wonder whether or not he was a sadist. Insane people only went so far to inflict pain, but Silver seemed to like taking it to a whole other level.

  Despite her reservations, she did as he asked and began the new exercise. Even though it was only five times more to follow, the complexity of it made it feel one hundred times as hard. Splitting her mind yet again threatened to tear her apart from the inside, yet the magic of Nexus kept restoring her with every breath she took.

  When she exhaled, it would be agony the likes of which she’d never felt. And when she inhaled, most of the pain would simply vanish. Seeing as no sleep was required, she only stopped for meals, using all the rest of the time for training.

  Silver vanished for long periods of time, only coming back sporadically to check on their progress. Kya was working on something, though she didn’t want to discuss it just yet. At least not until she’d figured something out. Karria was too busy to pay her much heed anyway, all of her time taken up by training.

  She still had no idea what Silver’s end goal was, though she was beginning to notice some very obvious changes. For one, she noticed her body becoming more toned when she went to bathe in the ocean once a day. Her muscles were becoming defined, the baby fat that still clung to her quickly melting away.

  For another, she found that her concentration rarely slipped anymore when she was working on something. Sure, she was still losing track of the light beams after fourteen, but she was making steady progress. The lack of a constant and excruciating pain helped.

  Five days into their stay in Nexus, she finally succeeded, managing to follow all twenty from start to finish. However, when she went looking for Silver, she discovered that he was still gone. Kya, who was sitting near the water, turned as she approached and gave her a bright smile. This place seemed to be having a good effect on both of them, washing away their aches and pains.

  “I wish we could stay here for longer,” she said wistfully, sitting down next to her friend.

  “I know what you mean,” Kya replied, staring up at the sky filled with stars and suns. “This place is magical. I feel somehow whole here, as though something has been missing all my life and now, I’ve found it.”

  “Maybe that’s why these Transcended don’t want us here?” Karria speculated.

  Aside from the race’s name and the fact that they were some sort of higher beings, Silver hadn’t elaborated. Neither of them had really had any time to speculate on what they might be as their time had been occupied with training. As soon as that thought crossed her mind, Karria got back to her feet.

  “Sorry,” she said to Kya’s questioning look. “We only have so much time here, and I feel like if I’m not training, I’m wasting it.”

  “No need to apologize,” Kya said with a smile. “I know exactly what you mean.”

  “I just…don’t really know what to do, though,” Karria said. “Silver is gone, and I’ve completed his exercise.”

  “Why not try to do more until he gets back?” Kya suggested.

  “There’s an idea,” she muttered. “Though I’d much rather do anything else, I think it’s helping me.”

  “Yeah,” Kya said with a nod. “I’ve definitely noticed you slimming down. Your cheekbones are much more defined.”

  “Kya!” Karria gasped in mock outrage. “Are you saying I was…fat!?”

  “It’s not a surprise, with all that candy and chocolate you were eating,” Kya said.

  “Hey! You can’t blame me for loving chocolate. I can never say no when it’s offered.”

  Kya let out a sigh, looking out into the distance.

  “I do miss Srila sometimes, though it’s been so long, I’m beginning to forget it.”

  Karria looked to her sharply at that, suddenly feeling that something was very wrong.

  “Kya, how can you be forgetting Srila? It hasn’t even been a month since we left.”

  “Has it?” she asked, looking surprised. “That can’t be right…” She trailed off, looking out at the ocean once again. “We should probably get back to training now. Why don’t you try following a hundred beams this time? Silver would probably tell you to do that anyway if he were here.”

  “Yeah,” Karria said hesitantly. “I think I’ll do that.”

  Karria was now feeling anxious. Something about what Kya had said was sitting strangely with her, and she would be sure to ask Silver as soon as he got back. After all, it was suspicious that Kya would forget her home already. She’d had to flee the city just over three weeks ago. The trauma should still be fresh in her mind, not fading from her memory.

  She shook herself then, putting the worry to the back of her mind. She was about to cause herself a great deal of pain, and though she wasn’t looking forward to it, she knew that this was the only place she’d be able to do so for the time being. They only had a few days left and she wasn’t going to waste another moment!

  38

  Arbor stood in the city square dressed in his full armor and with both weapons strapped on. His Perception Field was active, and he was flanked on either side by Grak and Grab. After explaining what today’s challenge would be, Frunk had picked out his team for the race, though they weren’t all here just yet. The race had not yet been announced, so it would be suspicious if he were the only one to turn up with five guards.

  The square was filled with only the other ninety-nine contestants and their guards, all other people having been barred from the opening ceremony, though they would be allowed to watch the actual competition. A large stage stood against the same stone building, which Arbor had learned was for city officials. A podium stood empty at the forefront of the stage and a massive board stood behind, showing the names of all the contestants, as well as their current rank.

  Just as Sindra had said, Arbor found his name by the fifty-first rank. Next to each name was a blank space, and Arbor had a feeling that that was where their scores for these trials would be recorded.

  A new buzz of excitement went through the crowd as the door on the far side of the stage opened, and Marquess Sindra walked out. He was flanked on either side by Earl Wulrick and another man dressed in a smart military jacket. The crowd grew silent as he approached the podium, so Arbor had no trouble hearing him when he began speaking.

  “Welcome, all, to the start of the competition. Now, straight to business. There will be three stages in this competition, each lasting a week. You will have a couple of days after each stage is over to rest and relax but while the competition is ongoing, know that any wasted time could cost you dearly.

  “Each stage of the competition will consist of a series of challenges to test your own power, your ability to lead, and your ability to construct and maintain a barony. We will hand out the challenges as they come but rest assured that each day will bring a fresh challenge. Now, you may be wondering how you are supposed to move up in rank to gain one of the seven vaulted spots. That is quite simple.”

  He gestured behind him, and suddenly, numbers appeared next to each contestant’s name. However, aside from the top seven, everyone else had a score of zero. Victoria, the one ranked first, had a total of ten points, while the seventh place, Leona, had two.

  “As you can see, everyone except for the top seven has a starting score of zero. And, while this does technically put everyone in eighth and below at a tie, we have still ranked you. Want to gain points? Then listen up, as we will be announcing this week’s challenges.

  “We will be testing your ability to lead this week, starting with a footrace through an obstacle course. The course will stretch a total of fifteen miles and is set up outside the city. Here are the scores you will earn, depending on which place your team comes in. Yes, you heard me right,” he said a second later. “You will be running with a team of five and only when every last team member has crossed the finish line, will you be considered to have finished.”

  Arbor looked on in fascination as the Earl waved his hand, and a massive translucent board appeared floating above them on the stage. On it was written position numbers, as well as the point totals for each.

  1st - 10 points

  2nd - 8 points

  3rd - 6 points

  4th - 5 points

  5th - 4 points

  6th - 3 points

  7th - 2 points

  That was it. After 7th, there were no other numbers.

  “As you can see,” Sindra continued after a few moments. “Finishing after 7th will net you a grand total of zero points. When the seventh team crosses the finish line, that’s it. The race will be over, and you will get nothing.

  “Now, for the rules. Feel free to attack any team as you make your way through the obstacle course. Knocking out another team is your best chance at winning. On the other hand, if you waste too much time fighting, you won’t make it to the finish line.

  “A messenger will drop by your residence sometime today and deliver the details for tomorrow’s challenge, as well as the location. So, make sure to ask for it when you return after today’s challenge.

  “Lastly, while fighting is allowed, the use of deadly force is strictly prohibited. General Trebin will oversee this race, and his forces will interfere should they deem a contestant using deadly force. If a contestant is expelled from any challenge due to this reason, they will be immediately disqualified from the competition.

  “The race will begin at noon on the dot, outside the south gate. Come late if you wish, but you will likely lose, as that is when the race begins. I wish you all the best of luck in your challenges and hope to see the most worthy among you join the ranks of the nobility when this is all over.”

  The Marquess then stepped away from the podium and headed back into the office. A low muttering began to sweep through the crowd as people tried to decide whether they could leave or not. Arbor was not so indecisive and immediately turned, heading back to his coach.

  “Come on, we need to pick up our runners and plan some sort of strategy,” he said as he went.

  “You think we’ll need one?” Grak asked as she hurried to catch up with him.

  Arbor nodded as she fell into step with him.

  “Had this been a footrace where only I need to win, I could have breezed through it without needing to worry. However, seeing as this will be a team effort, you can be sure that we will be facing a lot of Mages. Not to mention that some contestants will likely be forming alliances and knocking others out early in the competition.

  “In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the people here are here for the explicit reason of permanently eliminating the competition.”

  “Why would they do something like that? Wouldn’t that just eliminate them, too?” Grak wondered as they stepped into the coach, followed closely by Grab.

  “Because,” Grab said, answering for Arbor. “By crippling or injuring another competitor, they make it easier for their chosen contestant to win.”

  “Yeah, I get that. But why would someone go that route when they can win the noble title for themselves?”

  “Because they’re weak,” Arbor said simply. “So they cling to those they believe are stronger, receiving promises of riches or position, should they win.”

  Grak’s lip curled in disgust at that, and Arbor nodded in agreement.

  “Yes, these are the lowest of the low. But I can assure you that before this race is over, at least two people will be permanently eliminated. One by choice, and the other…well, you get the picture.”

  They remained silent for the rest of the ride, each thinking over the deadly race they would soon be undertaking. It took nearly half an hour to return to the manor due to the throngs of people all heading out of the city to watch today’s race. By the time they arrived, Frunk already had three other gremlins standing outside by the gates, all dressed in light armor and carrying weapons.

  Instead of stepping out of the coach, all of them climbed in, and the driver immediately set off once more. They had decided on this course of action in advance, just in case.

  Well, Arbor admitted to himself, it was really Frunk’s idea.

  “So, are the rules the same as the Marquess stated previously?” he asked as soon as they were settled.

  “Yes. But he added the exception that the entire team must finish, not just me.”

 

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