Hyrule: Year 3000

by Vivi3030

A reimagination of Hyrule as a galactic power in the midst of a massive civil war. A twist on the classic story, told from the point of view of Link, a sniper in the Hylian Navy. Can he use his powers to overcome darkness, rebellion, and his own personal demons? Sci-fi/Fantasy/Romance. Rated T-Plus for Adult/dark themes and strong language.

21. Pt 2 Ch 6 - The Continent of Tests 2

Part 2 Chapter 6

"The team battles will be conducted in tournament style, and elimination will be based on a hitpoints-based system. Your physical, magical, and other extraneous abilities have been judged by an unbiased computer system, and you have each been awarded a level based on the results of several thousand simulated battles.

"This level will affect the tournament in many ways. Due to variations in team sizes, battles will be limited to the size of the smallest team, and combat will continue until all of a team's members run out of hitpoints. Once an individual runs out of hitpoints, he or she will be safely teleported from the arena. Smaller teams will be given a handicap, and teams with a lower level average will be given a point bonus that correlates to how big the difference in level was."

I looked at my two teammates, realizing that we were still at a disadvantage in this fight despite the fact that the administrators had leveled the playing field somewhat. If we were put up against a much larger team, they would have many options whereas we had to fight with what we had. The largest team had fourteen members, and consisted of almost all She-Hau family members. I especially didn't want to fight them, since Riari and I had killed several of their brothers and sisters.

The levels were unexpected, and I didn't know what to think about them yet.

"Losing a battle in this tournament will not cause your team to be cut from the list of candidates. You will each be judged individually and as a team based on your performance. Obviously, winning a battle gives your team another chance to prove itself and extra consideration for the judges."

"Excuse me," One of the She-Hau team leaders said, raising his hand up as Heathrow paused.

"Yes?"

"So if I understand this right, even if we win a fight we may not advance?"

"That is correct," Heathrow replied. "For example, if you fight a team of six with your 14-member team, you will have to choose six fighters. The smaller team will be given an eight-point handicap because they have eight less members and lack the luxury of choosing who will fight.

"Furthermore, say that the average level of the six-member team is 24, whereas the average level of the six fighters you choose is 32. The lower-leveled team receives another 8-point boost. So if you choose higher-leveled fighters, they have to perform like higher-leveled fighters and crush the lower-leveled fighters to make sure that the weaker team doesn't advance even though they lost. On the flip side, if you were to be on the weaker team, you have a chance to advance by simply performing better than expected. You will also only have a maximum of thirty minutes for each contest. If the battle is not over by then, the judges will call off the match and make their decision based on the events that occurred during the time limit."

So the larger teams have their own disadvantages to contend with. I realized. This game is more about strategy and prudent risk-taking than outright strength.

Suddenly it hit me.

They're not testing our fighting abilities! They're testing our ability to strategize.

"Please make your way to a waiting area," Heathrow said. "The tournament will begin shortly."

There were plenty of waiting areas spread throughout the large room, so Riari, Rose, and myself casually made our way to the back and found a spot in the corner. I could hear many of the larger teams grumbling, but ignored it.

"You guys figured out what they're testing, right?"

"It's not about strength or combat," Riari said, nodding. "At least not entirely."

"We have to fight as a team and perform better than expected, no matter what's thrown at us," Rose added. "This will be a serious disadvantage to the teams that don't work well together."

"Right," I said. "But we also don't know who we're fighting or what our levels are. So we could be at a disadvantage when we get out there as far as handicaps go."

"Or we could be completely overmatched and flunk out immediately." Riari said.

I nodded.

"The point is we have to work as a team and last as long as we can against stronger teams, and absolutely crush teams that are weaker than we are."

Rose and Riari agreed, and we settled into an uncomfortable waiting silence. After about ten minutes, the TV screens switched on and showed a view of a large open-air arena with seating around the ground level. The actual battle area looked like a ruined urban environment, with several decrepit buildings and obstacles scattered throughout the floor. It was nearly a hundred meters long and fifty meters wide, with plenty of room for open-area fighting and building-to-building combat.

A display appeared in front of the live feed of the arena that separated us into our teams and showed various stats. The left side of the boxes showed pictures of our faces, and the top showed our names followed by a numerical level. Below that was a red bar labeled HP and a blue bar labeled MP. Beneath that were stats for strength, speed, endurance, magical affinity, magical resistance, and luck.

Luck? Really?

I shrugged and waited for my name. It looked as if the teams were organized by size, which put us near the middle. Once our names came across, I quickly absorbed the information.

Rose Gahar, LVL 39

HP: 43

MP: 71

STR 15, SPD 25, END 15

MAFF 45, MRES 37, LUCK 17

Riari Ioni, LVL 32

HP: 36

MP: 60

STR 13, SPD 26, END 17

MAFF 39, MRES 37, LUCK 19

Link, LVL 28

HP: 90

MP: 99+

STR 89, SPD 61, END 95

MAFF 2, MRES 1, LUCK 41

I heard several conversations stop throughout the waiting room as my name scrolled across the screen. My picture was absent, but soon all eyes were on my team as the other candidates recognized my teammates.

"I guess we have their attention," Rose said with a shrug.

"Let's not let that detract from the fact that Link's magical affinity and resistance are both crazy low level," Riari pointed out.

"Right, but you and I are both above average in that regard," Rose said. "Might be nice to have some muscle."

"89 levels of muscle."

Rose reached over and squeezed my left bicep.

"Yeah I believe it."

I rolled my eyes.

"You guys realize I can hear you, right?"

They both ignored me and continued staring at the screen, but I was distracted. My levels hadn't come as a surprise to me except for my MP, which was simply labeled as 99+. That was higher than both of my teammates.

"What exactly is MP?" I asked. "Why is mine so high?"

"Think of it as your total pool of maniah," Riari said. "You have a limited amount that regenerates over time. Your magical affinity is how well you can control maneah with your maniah. So the more MP you have, the more maniah you have. And the higher your magical affinity is, the more efficient you are at controlling maneah."

"Let's appreciate that he managed to raise an affinity level in ten days, though," Rose said. "He was only using maniah in the first test, so he was definitely at level one affinity."

Riari nodded in agreement.

"Candidates, the first team battle will begin now," Heathrow's voice said through the overhead speakers. "Teams 1 and 128, please make your way to the starting area."

I hadn't noticed the team numbers because I was so focused on my level. The large team of She-Hau and a smaller team of only five members both stood up and moved to the doors at the end of the room. Once they opened, they passed through and walked out to the arena.

"Here we go," I said, watching them appear on screen. Several spectators had filed into the arena, although they didn't appear to be there for a good time.

"Administrators," Riari said, seeing my questioning look.

"For the other tests?"

He nodded.

"The administrators from other continents and some of the other tests will be attending bigger events like this. It helps them get a feel for the newest classes and scout out the strongest candidates. Some of them represent organizations, as well."

There were about fifty of them in total, all with old-school paper notebooks taking notes.

I guess mages don't keep up with the times.

Team 1, the She-Hau, and Team 128, the smaller group, met in the middle of the arena with Heathrow looking on from a raised platform.

"Team 1, you must select five members to fight Team 128."

There didn't seem to be any room for debate among the She-Hau. The strongest five stepped forward without hesitation or furtive glances, and the remaining nine filed to the side of the arena.

"The She-Hau respect power above all else," Riari explained, seeing my confusion. "While they're already at a point disadvantage because they're so much larger than team two, and could probably offset that by putting in only a slightly more powerful five-man team, they won't play games. Their only goal will be to go in and absolutely crush the opponent, even if that means the possibility of losing the match because of the handicap."

The stat board scrolled across the screen, showing that Team 128 had been given a 9-point handicap due to its smaller size and a 14-point level handicap.

"So basically what team two has to do to win is last longer than a few minutes?" I asked.

"It really depends on whoever judges this," Rose said. Riari nodded in agreement.

"The individual judges will have an expectation for how long Team 128 is supposed to last."

Heathrow talked to the two teams for a few minutes before his platform floated above the floor of the arena. A shield appeared around the battleground to protect the observers, and a countdown started. Thirty seconds.

"Who do you think will win?" I asked.

"Team 1."

"Team 1 for sure."

I nodded in agreement.

Here we go.

…

The She-Hau crushed Team 128, as expected, and the tournament progressed fairly quickly. Many of the teams were only one member each. Solo candidates seemed to be at a hefty disadvantage despite the point handicaps, and most fell quickly to the larger teams.

I hardly remembered we had a tournament to fight until we were next.

"Teams 100 and 34, please make your way to the waiting area."

I looked up, startled.

"It's our turn already?" I asked. Rose and Riari hadn't noticed, either.

"I suppose so." Riari replied.

We all stood up and walked over to the doors. Team 34 had four members, which meant we didn't have much of a handicap. What worried me was that all four members seemed to have high magical aptitude and resistance scores. They all rivaled Riari, although Rose was more powerful.

When the doors opened, we were ushered into separate rooms to wait on the two groups ahead of us to finish.

"So what's our strategy?" Riari asked, looking at me.

I stared at him for a moment.

"I was thinking we'd just pick off one at a time. That's always worked for me in the past."

"No, that won't work against these guys," Rose said immediately.

"Why's that?"

"I saw them during the crazy fight at the end of the last test," She said. "The one that Link wasn't watching because he was running. Those four had formed a team and actually managed to deflect several of my most powerful spells, as well as attacks from other teams."

"So we can't use magic on them?" Riari asked.

"No, I don't think that's it. Somehow they've developed a way to pool their energy into a magical defense that's stronger than the sum of its parts. So it's not that we can't pick off one at a time, but we're not going to get so lucky that they give us an opportunity. We'll have to make one."

"Sounds fine to me," I said. Riari nodded in agreement, so we spent a few minutes working out the details. By the time the two matches ahead of us were finished and Heathrow called our team to the floor of the arena, I felt ready.

Riari was nervous, but I was more concerned about Rose as we stepped out of the planning room. She was sweating and trembling, so I put my hand on her shoulder.

"Get a hold of yourself, it's not like we're going to die here."

She nodded shakily, but didn't seem to take any solace in that. It was likely the threat of being unable to continue that made her the most nervous.

I wonder what happens to the people who wash out.

It was a moot point, though. I wasn't going to wash out.

We met Team 34 in the middle, and they selected their three strongest members to fight us. Our level average was one higher than theirs, so the team size handicap was nullified.

"This event is fairly straightforward since there's no handicap advantage for either team," Heathrow said to us. "Whoever wins this battle advances to the next round."

I stared down the closest Team 34 member, who looked distinctly uncomfortable with the situation. Once he looked at me, I slowly drew the Master Sword and stared at him. The gesture had the intended effect.

We were teleported to opposite ends of the arena, and the match began. I turned to look at my teammates and found that Rose was still shaky and nervous.

"Come on," I said, knowing I needed to take charge. "I got to one of them right before the match. Let's see if we can flank them and force him away from the others."

Riari and Rose followed me as I slid past the buildings on the floor of the arena. This was a lot like what I had trained to do as a sniper, although the end result was different. As a sniper I would move between buildings to set up another shooting point and take out one or two more targets. Here I was trying to move myself into an advantageous position for close combat.

I caught sight of Team 34 three minutes after the start of the match. It was only a brief flash of movement, but that was all I needed.

"Over there," I whispered, pointing to my left. They had just moved into a building on the far north side of the arena floor.

I knew we needed to act fast. Getting magicians out of a fortified building was an extreme challenge, so the less time Team 34 had to set up their defenses the better our chances were.

We moved up the side of the building and I slid in the door like a ghost. A casual observer would have had to be looking directly at the door from the inside to see my silhouette. The interior of the building was strangely dark, although my Black Ops bioaugmentation helped with that.

Nobody was in the first room, so I looked at the two doors in front of me. One led to a hallway, and I couldn't see where the other one went. Although I was typically wary of blind corners, I was also wary of an ambush. Anyone with a shred of tactical knowledge would expect me to come down the hallway after entering through this door, although a rookie would set up an ambush on the blind corner hoping to catch me off guard.

That was assuming Team 34 had even had time to set up an ambush in the two minutes they had been in this building alone.

Riari tapped my shoulder and pointed at the doorway I couldn't see past. Since I was torn, I decided to simply follow his wishes and go that way. Our goal was to slip past Team 34 at first and catch them where they didn't expect us.

I used the Master Sword to get a reflection of the hallway leading past the blind corner. It appeared to be empty, so I swept into it and found that it led to a flight of stairs and a door to the exit. Past the stairs were several more doorways that actually had doors covering them.

They're definitely upstairs.

I put my arm out to stop Riari, who was following directly behind me, and then pointed up the stairs. He nodded and passed the message to Rose. My suspicion was that Team 34 was waiting to ambush us on the stairs, so I reached out and felt the maneah swirling around me.

Sure enough, an unusually strong flow of maneah was flowing up the stairs. I didn't dare reach out further on the off chance that they hadn't noticed our presence yet.

I nudged Riari and Rose back into the first room we had come in to quickly whisper a plan to them, but Rose was one step ahead of me.

"They're going to have set up barriers," she whispered, barely audible even in the deafening silence of the house. "We should throw a powerful bolt of energy up there. It won't break the barrier, but it might get one of them to come at us."

I didn't have a better plan, so I nodded in agreement and we all crept back into the hallway. Riari charged up a bolt of electricity so powerful it made my hair stand on end, and then leaned around the corner and unleashed it towards the top of the stairs. The top of the house nearly exploded with the impact, sending wood and concrete flying in every direction. I turned my head, hoping to keep splinters out of my eyes.

I heard the three members of Team 34 yelling in confusion, and knew that the time to act was now. I charged up the shattered stairs and solidified the Triforce's aura around my body into a compact shell. A spell ricocheted off the makeshift shield as soon as I reached the top of the stairs, causing a noticeable drop in my internal energy. I turned towards the direction the attack had come from, seeing one of the Team 34 members had, in fact, gotten separated from the other two. It was the same one I stared down before the match, and he looked terrified.

I grinned and slammed into him, interrupting his casting of a second spell. The impact sent us both falling through a shattered wall and into the room beyond.

Shit.

The world went into slow-motion when I realized that the other two had been hiding in this room. They were charging an electricity-based spell together, and I could already tell that it would be lights-out if I were hit. As I fell, I pointed the tip of the Master Sword down towards the chest of the one I had tackled. He was teleported out the second the blade slammed into his ribs, and I rolled to the side.

The lightning screamed by my leg, glancing off my shield and nearly shattering it in the process. I staggered to my feet, feeling the fatigue setting in as I ran out of maniah.

I can't take even a glancing blow now.

Riari and Rose came around the corner as the two remaining members of Team 34 began firing spells in my direction. I tried to maneuver towards them, but they kept putting magical attacks in the direction I wanted to move.

Riari threw electricity at them, and it skittered across a shield just before it reached its target. Rose tried a wave of fire, although it had the same effect.

I needed to get closer, so I would have to change my tactics. These two had perfected the defensive game, and already seemed to know how to protect themselves from our individual strengths. I ducked towards the door and grabbed my teammates, dragging them down the stairs.

"Run!"

Riari complied instantly, but I had to pick Rose up and physically drag her out of the building. We crashed into a different house down the street and I tossed her down.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" She yelled immediately. "We had them!"

"No we didn't," I replied calmly. "They were perfectly capable of blocking both of you and preventing me from getting close."

Rose huffed and stormed around the room, grumbling quietly.

"So what now?" Riari asked.

"Now we have an advantage," I said. "If the match doesn't end in another fifteen minutes, it will time out and the judges will pick a winner. I took out one of their members before you two got in the room, so we would probably win. The other two members of 34 know that, so they'll now have to go on the offensive."

"Which means they'll be out of their element," Riari said. "They're good at defense, which means their offensive skills may be lacking."

"Exactly."

Rose sighed.

"Fine, that's actually a really good point. But what's your plan?"

"We make them chase us until the match times out or they give us an opportunity to hit back. We shouldn't take any chances-"

The doorway we had run in exploded, and Riari disappeared as he was hit by the brunt of the lightning coursing into the room. Rose yelled in surprise, but I grabbed her and raced towards the closest exit.

Apparently Team 34 wasn't just good at defense.

We barreled into an alleyway and I realized immediately that we were being funneled into a trap. The house had three doors, and I had left out of the one that led into cover. Team 34's members would expect me to do that.

"Wait," I said, grabbing Rose and pulling her back. "Stop here and cover me. One of them will be watching the end of this alley, and the other will come up behind us."

She nodded, her eyes wide in panic. I knew what she was thinking.

We can't lose. Not in the first round.

I crept back to the door and lay down in the mildly dense brush around it. My cloak would conceal me to all but the observant eye, so I waited patiently.

Several minutes after the explosion, I heard a set of footsteps creeping through the house. They were light, but the blast had torn up the floor and made it unstable. They paced towards the other door quietly, and then headed towards the one I had exited.

An impact nearly caused me to jump out of cover, but I resisted the urge. Rose yelled several unintelligible curses, and I felt the maneah of the entire area shift as it gathered towards her.

The Team 34 member that was creeping in the house showed his inexperience and ran out to help his teammate. He didn't even have time to blink before I lunged, driving the point of the Master Sword into his chest and causing him to disappear. I turned and looked at Rose, who seemed to be handling the last opponent well enough. He wasn't a pushover, though, and I figured she could use some help.

I leapt up and grabbed the edge of the high wall blocking the alley, pulling myself over it and jumping onto a nearby roof. Team 34's last member was standing at the end of the alley about ten meters away, so I leapt along the roofline towards him.

I took a moment to try concealing the presence of my maniah, since he knew I was coming but not from where. When a bolt of lightning cut through the air and deflected off Rose's defenses, I leapt from the roof and into the alleyway.

Team 34's final member was already looking at me, and I knew I hadn't done a good enough job concealing my presence. His lightning enveloped me, shattering the remainder of my maniah barrier.

I blinked, and I was sitting next to Riari in the waiting room. Three seconds later, Rose appeared next to us. We all looked at each other, shocked.

"So what happened?" I asked finally.

"I got him," Rose said, grinning. "When he turned and fried you, that gave me an opening."

Riari and I both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Well that's that."

"Teams 100 and 34, please return to the main waiting area now."

We followed Heathrow's instructions and came face to face with Team 34 as we exited the doors. A brief second passed in which I wondered if they would try to start something out here, but one of them grinned. It was the same one who had killed me.

"You guys are one hell of a team to fight. We thought we had you for a minute there, but you pulled through."

I smiled in relief, glad that they weren't taking this loss to heart.

"You three really have something going, too," Riari pointed out. "We couldn't break through your defenses no matter what we threw at you."

We moved to the side as more teams entered the battle waiting area. Teams 102 and 103 were already in a heated contest on the arena floor, both having chosen brute force over tactics and precision. After a few moments of pleasantries, we returned to our seats and took a breather.

The first round concluded an hour later, as most matches were decided in just a few minutes. Heathrow's voice once again came through the speakers above our heads.

"Candidates, you may now go back to your rooms and rest. Round two will occur after three days of rest, and only those who were victorious in the first round are allowed to be here. The 64 losing teams from today have no further responsibilities until the advancement results come out after the fourth round, and may rest until then.

"For those of you wondering, you will automatically advance to the next round of tests if you are a member of the eight teams who win round four. Winners, make sure you are practicing during your downtime."

There were mixed emotions around the room. The winners, of course, were ecstatic at the thought of being guaranteed advancement. Getting through the fourth round was still a monumental task, but it wasn't impossible. 56 of the remaining teams would lose before that point, after all. But it was something to reach for.

The losers, on the other hand, were nervous and angry. I understood why. Some of the battles hadn't properly showcased the skills of those involved, and many were worried about being cut despite being a skilled magic user. Others were simply praying for survival, since their contests had only displayed their weakness compared to the others involved.

I didn't pay the other teams any mind as I returned to my room. I could barely stand on my own feet by the time I reached my door, and Rose had to help me to my bed.

Three days might not have been enough.

…

The first day was spent sleeping. Riari and I were both so sore and tired that Rose had to bring us food and water throughout the day. By nighttime, though, we were both feeling better and I was able to continue practicing manipulating maneah.

My skills were slightly improving. I had better control over maneah bursts, and I was able to form them faster than before. They were still completely useless in combat, though, so I decided to try something new. Rose noticed the shift in maneah instantly and came out on the balcony to investigate.

"What are you doing?"

I didn't respond, instead focusing on the edge of the Master Sword and drawing the surrounding maneah towards the blade. A faint green light appeared from the metal, growing brighter as I crammed more maneah into the tiny space around the sharp edges.

Finally, when I could no longer contain the pressure of the maneah, I released it slowly. The Master Sword burst into green flames, which I maintained by drawing in as much maneah as I allowed out. My maniah would run out eventually, but this spell seemed fairly easy to hold.

"I can't use purely offensive maneah, so I wanted to do something useful," I said, finally answering Rose's question. "It seems to be a lot easier to use a vessel to contain the maneah that I condense."

"It's not quite that easy," Rose said, shaking her head in response. "That sword you've got is naturally inclined to accept your maniah and the maneah you manipulate with it. You couldn't do that with just any weapon. What is it?"

"It's… complicated," I replied with a shrug.

"We've got time."

I thought about it for a moment, but I realized it didn't matter. Rose already knew I was an Outlier, which meant that I could somewhat safely tell her about the outside.

"How much do you know about Hyrule's history?" I asked. She looked around awkwardly.

"We don't learn much about it. Even in the Gahar. History is a low priority when you're training to survive the Gauntlet. I've heard they give us a lot of classes near the end of the Continent of Tests."

"I'll give you a history class now," I said. "It'll help me learn to multi-task while using magic."

Rose peeked back in the hotel room and called out to Riari. He staggered outside a few moments later.

"Hylian history?" He asked, surprisingly interested.

"Yeah, sit." I replied.

For the next hour, I delved into old Hylian legends and the events that had led Hyrule to its small place in the galaxy so far. I focused very heavily on the Great War and the King's Collective, and then moved into Hylian government. All the while, I maintained the magic on my sword.

I then moved to the topic of Zelda and my place in the SSC. I told them about Malon in great detail, and slipped a little too much into my own personal story before redirecting to Hylian history. From there, I moved on to the background of the Master Sword and why it was so important, as well as its connection to the line of heroes. Then I moved on into the most recent discoveries about the Church of Eta Ali and its appearance on Faron.

I paused when I got to the battle going on in Lanayru. Fortunately all the candidates here seemed to understand the time warp going on in the Gauntlet, and my teammates didn't need a thorough explanation that the battle was both ongoing and paused.

"So did the Eta Ali win?" Riari asked, sensing my hesitation.

"Well… Not yet," I replied. "Last I heard, they were on track to take the city. That's why I came here to train. I told you about Richard and the issues he was causing, right?"

They both nodded.

"He nearly killed me before I left Faron," I continued. "Not only that, he threatened to do some particularly horrible things to Zelda. I have to become stronger than him to prevent that from happening. That's why I can't allow myself to fail."

It was strange to share so much with people I had just met two weeks ago, but I understood the importance of being open with my teammates. For at least the next six months, we would have to keep each other alive. During difficult selection processes throughout the Black Ops courses, I had always made it a point to create a team and nurture its abilities. That was the absolute key to my success, and I was planning on continuing that practice here on the Gauntlet.

Of course, that didn't mean I was locked in with this specific team or any team. In the course of the Gauntlet, I would likely be forced to mesh with another team or join a new one altogether. In Black Ops training, the instructors had sometimes formed new teams from individuals that hated each other. I was expecting something similar here, although not until later.

One thing I knew already, though, was that our team didn't mesh very well as far as skills. Riari and Rose were both wildly talented magicians, while I was useless at most anything involving magic. I looked over at Rose, who was throwing two bolts of red maneah at once. She was working on her aim and control, and seemed to be able to control one fully and the other partially. That she was able to form two maneah bolts at all was astounding, as most of the other candidates couldn't.

Riari's magic was different. Because his maneah manifested as blue lightning, it reached its destination nearly instantly. His issue, therefore, was not accuracy but power. His attacks lacked the overwhelming strength of Rose's, although they were still formidable. I had come to understand that even a member of the four elite families could never hope to keep up with a member of the ruling family that had even a quarter of the experience. The difference in natural talent was just too great to overcome.

I, on the other hand, brought almost nothing to the table besides a thorough understanding of tactics and combat, and about three times as much muscle as any other candidate. Currently I was armed with a sword that offered very little offensive capabilities against magicians, and I knew how to create a shield of pure maniah that left me drained and exhausted after two or three hits.

I was frustrated, to say the least. I wanted to be worth the trouble of having on this team, but I had a feeling I would drag Rose and Riari down in my current state. Even the extra layer of magic I had discovered I could add to the Master Sword didn't change very much. I still couldn't use an effective maneah bolt in battle, which was the cornerstone of every magician's ability.

I needed to find some way to increase my defensive ability. For now, I was an excellent tank for my teammates, who wielded significant offensive power. If I could increase my ability to take or deflect hits, I could increase the amount of time they had to attack whoever we were fighting.

The question was how to do that. I had already found that forming maneah into a shield around myself was hardly worth the effort, since it blocked very little incoming magic. Compared to the strength of my Triforce-based maniah shield, it was nothing. That said, most candidates seemed incapable of creating anything tangible out of their maniah, which meant I had a leg up in that regard.

However, I couldn't gain more maniah. The sum of a magician's maniah was fixed and unchanging throughout his life, meaning he simply had to learn to use it more efficiently. The more maneah I could influence with the total of my maniah, the more powerful of a magician I was considered to be. That was the basis of the Magical Affinity skill that I only scored a 2 in.

Team 34's defensive magic had been something special. All three members of that team had high magical affinity and were able to condense significant amounts of maneah into a compact shield. Then by working together, they were capable of creating a shield that was stronger than the sum of its parts. I knew that that wouldn't work with my magical affinity and my teammates' tendency towards offensive magic.

Another idea crossed my mind.

"Rose," I said, breaking her concentration. "Where does maneah come from?"

She glanced over at me, slightly annoyed.

"It runs throughout large celestial bodies like moons, planets, and stars. I've already told you that."

"So then you're limited to using only maniah when you're away from a planet?"

She nodded.

I had realized when she told me that the first time that that's why Imperial Battlemages had seemed so rare. The only time I had ever seen one was during a ground battle where she had had access to Castle's maneah. Otherwise I had mostly been in space aboard Navy destroyers, where an Imperial Battlemage would be useless and therefore would not go.

I closed my eyes and focused on the maneah around me. Concentrating on all the maneah swirling around the balcony was now an easy task, whereas even a meter radius had been challenging at first. According to Riari, it was shocking that I could detect that much maneah only two weeks after starting, but it didn't feel strange to me.

More maneah was swirling around Rose than anywhere else, so I started with hers. Compressing maneah was the basis of any maneah bolt attack, but I wanted to do something different. Instead of compressing it, I pulled it apart and created a small vacuum of magical energy about half a meter across. It was surprisingly easy, so I targeted the maneah around Rose and increased the radius. Maneah started flowing in rapidly from other directions, so I morphed the maneah vacuum around in an attempt to stop the flow.

Much to my aggravation, it didn't work. Rose hadn't yet noticed that I was trying to stop her from attacking.

In a brief moment of frustration, I centered the void on her body and expanded it to the max size I could handle, which barely covered her. Now her power dropped immediately, nearly halting the flow of maneah into her body and causing her to stumble awkwardly as her maniah no longer had a significant amount of maneah to interact with. A second later, her maniah extended out and gripped the maneah outside the vacuum.

"What the hell was that?" She said suddenly, shocked at the interruption. "Was that… No-"

"Was that reverse maneah control?" Riari asked, staring at me.

"What's that?" I replied.

"Reverse maneah control. It's the act of pulling maneah away from an area instead of compressing it," He said. "I saw what you just did. You created a void around Rose that prevented her from interacting with the maneah close to her body. Because she was using that maneah, it caught her off guard and she had to readjust and reach out further to find more. It's a technique called reverse maneah control, because you're reversing the natural flow of the maneah in an area."

"I suppose that's what I did, then," I said with a shrug. "Sorry, Rose. I didn't mean to use you as a lab rat. It was just a fleeting idea-"

"Do it again," She said, interrupting me.

I looked around for a moment, and then shrugged and created another void around her.

"Extend it further."

I did, pushing the void out as far as I could manage, and Rose reached out with her maniah to manipulate the maneah further away from her body.

"My goddesses, he's actually doing it," She said after a few moments.

"That's insane. Even most Imperial Battlemages can't use that, but…"

They talked excitedly between themselves, but I didn't see what the big deal was. It wasn't difficult at all until I tried to make the maneah void much larger than a meter in diameter.

Wait a second…

I realized immediately what my mistake was. I had been casting my maniah outwards in an attempt to influence things away from my body. In doing so, I was forcing Rose to reach out further with her own maniah, which drained more of her energy.

This time, I only interacted with the maneah closest to me. Doing so took far less energy and I was able to push the radius of the maneah void out twice as far.

This is it!

"Riari, throw some lightning at me," I said, looking over at him.

"Wha-"

"Just do it. Don't ask questions."

He shrugged and fired a halfhearted bolt of lightning at me. I tensed as I waited for the sting, but the maneah fizzled and dissipated as it hit the void. Only the power of the maniah remained, which barely had enough energy to make my skin itch.

"What happened?" Riari asked.

"Do it again, but with more power," I said.

He charged up another bolt of lightning, actually using a significant amount of maniah this time. The maneah in our vicinity began to draw towards him as he amped up the amount of energy going into this next attack. Before letting it go, he looked at me questioningly. I nodded, and he shot the energy off again.

This time, the maneah didn't completely dissipate before reaching me. The impact knocked me back onto the ground and left a sizzling hole in my shirt, but didn't hurt nearly as bad as it should have. Riari was astonished when I hopped to my feet immediately.

"I've got it, guys," I said, grinning. "Let's go get some practice."

…

When we filed into the waiting room for the second round, the atmosphere was slightly more relaxed than it had been previously. Naturally, the room was significantly quieter, too. Our levels had been updated, and were scrolling across the screen in the hour before the first match started.

Rose Gahar, LVL 40(+1)

HP: 43

MP: 71

STR 16(+1), SPD 25, END 15

MAFF 46(+1), MRES 38, LUCK 17

Riari Ioni, LVL 32

HP: 36

MP: 60

STR 14, SPD 26, END 18(+1)

MAFF 39, MRES 37, LUCK 19

Link, LVL 29(+1)

HP: 90

MP: 99+

STR 89, SPD 61, END 95

MAFF 3(+1), MRES 6(+5), LUCK 41

"That's not even fair," Rose grumbled. "Look how much Link's affinity and resistance went up in four days."

"They're still shit," Riari said, poking me in the ribs.

I grumbled, but I was secretly excited. I already knew why those scores had gone up, since I had been focusing mainly on my defensive abilities since I discovered that I could create maneah voids. Although I didn't feel overly comfortable with the next matchup, I figured I at least stood a slightly better choice with my new ability.

The matches started without much fanfare, although I noticed that most of the losing teams from the first round were now occupying the stands along with the administrators. All were watching intently as the She-Hau from Team 1, which had won the first match against Team 128, took the floor against Team 65.

The arena had been changed to an open sand pit with no cover. Both teams started at opposite ends of the pit while Team 1 chose its players, and then began. The battle lasted less than a minute due to the open battlefield, and Team 1 once again stood victorious.

"I just noticed something," Rose said halfway through the third battle. "We're slotted to fight Team 36, which only has two people. So one of us has to sit out."

I scrolled through the tournament bracket, confirming that she was right, and then looked up.

"I'll sit out, I guess," I said grudgingly. "I'm the weakest one here."

"On the contrary, I think I should sit out," Riari said. "I watched Team 36 in the first round and was impressed with their offensive capabilities. Between the two offensive magicians on this team, Rose is more powerful. But she'll need some defense against these two, and you'll do a good job of providing that."

It made sense to me, but I didn't know how comfortable I was tanking against powerful offensive magicians. My ability to create a void had only been used in practice so far, and my maniah shield couldn't take more than three hits from Team 29's members, who had been mainly defensive specialists. I would be lucky if I survived a single bolt from Team 36.

"Actually I think you and Riari should go," Rose said, much to my surprise.

"Why?" We both asked at the same time.

"Because your average level of 30.5 is 6 points lower than theirs. When you subtract one point for our size advantage, that still gives us a 5-point handicap. If I go with Link, we would absolutely have to win the match to advance. If you two go and hold your own, you could win anyways due to the handicap."

She had a point. The handicap had affected a number of decisions in the first round, and 5 points was significant. No team with a 6-point handicap over their opponent had failed to advance to the second round, and 5 was dangerously close to that number.

"I'm willing to give it a try," I said. Riari agreed, so we started discussing strategy.

When the 12th match of the round began, we were ushered into the pre-battle waiting room along with Team 36. I felt fairly comfortable by this point.

If we lose, we lose. At least we got through the first round and have a better chance to get through selections.

Secretly, though, I knew failure wasn't an option. The fact that I had been 'killed' in the first round was still bothering me. In a real life-or-death situation, the fact that Rose had ended up winning the battle was a moot point if I was dead.

When the 14th battle cued up, I found myself staring down what looked like a brother and sister in Team 36. They were small and scrawny, but I could see the immense amount of maneah affected by their presence in the area. They were powerful. Riari and I stepped forward when we were asked to select two team members.

"Very well," Heathrow said from his elevated podium. "Let the battle begin."

…

As in the previous matches of the second round, Riari and I were teleported to one side of the arena while Team 36 was placed on the other end. Rose left the floor to watch from the battle waiting room, and a timer counted down from ten.

When it hit 5, I drew the Master Sword and infused it with maneah. When it was glowing bright green, I allowed the energy to escape at the same rate it was being drawn in, causing the blade to light up with strange green flames.

"You ready?" Riari asked, his face set into a determined frown.

"Of course."

The clock hit one second, and I created a void around myself and formed my maniah shield with the energy of the Triforce. Right as I finished, the match began.

Black maneah bolts began pounding us immediately. Team 36 wasn't a joke, and I knew that this wasn't going to be easy. Fortunately, I found that their maneah was just as susceptible to the effects of my void as Rose and Riari's. Once I had determined that my defense was working, I leaped forwards and ran at a dead sprint towards Team 36.

Riari, on the other hand, had bolted for safety the second the match had started. As planned, he hit the ground and took cover from the maneah bolts sizzling the air around us. This entire plan depended on my maneah void working as I charged towards the other side of the arena.

The closer I got to Team 36, the more power I was able to draw from the Triforce. With that, I was able to push out the radius of my void and draw more maneah into the Master Sword. When I had covered half the distance to the other side, though, the barrage of maneah intensified and was focused solely on stopping me. The impacts were the equivalent of being punched each time a maneah bolt found its way to me, despite the increased radius of my void.

Faster.

I pushed my legs faster, ignoring the pain. I had dealt with worse, and this was what we had been waiting for. Once Team 36 had its attention fully focused on me, Riari stood up and released a devastating wave of lightning towards them. The female turned and deflected it, leaving a momentary gap in the onslaught of maneah bolts.

Now!

I felt like I had never run this fast before. In the blink of an eye, I was only ten meters away from our two opponents. Their eyes went wide as they realized how fast I was running, but it was too late. I completely abandoned my maniah shield and used the energy to create a second void around the male. Riari then fully engaged the female with every ounce of his energy, so I ignored her and slammed into the male, who was still reeling from the sudden removal of his source of maneah.

I threw him to the ground and drove the Master Sword down towards his throat, but he was quick enough to roll to the side. I didn't let him recover, though, stabbing at his leg and finding my target. He yelped in surprise and tried to charge a maneah bolt, but was too slow reaching through the void for maneah. I released the built-up energy in the Master Sword as I swung it down towards him, blasting out a hole in the sand and causing him to teleport from the arena.

Riari faltered just as I defeated my opponent, though, and the remaining member of Team 36 overpowered him. Before she was able to finish him, though, I moved my second void over her. It would have made Riari's attacks ineffective earlier, but it didn't matter now since he was focused on defending himself.

The sister didn't have much trouble adapting her maneah to the void, but it did cause a noticeable drop in her maneah output and had the added effect of drawing her attention to me. I could feel my maniah reserves draining rapidly, and knew I needed to act now.

I charged again, covering the few meters between us in just over a second. My opponent reached out with her maniah and threw a bolt of energy at me, but it felt weaker than before. Even without my maniah shield to absorb the impact, it didn't hurt any worse. She stumbled backwards as I appeared practically on top of her, joining the two voids into a single larger one.

The match ended when I smashed the hilt of the Master Sword into her face hard enough to 'kill' her. She teleported out before any actual damage was done, leaving Riari and me as the only ones standing.

Well, maybe I'm the only one standing. I thought, looking over at where Riari had collapsed. That aside, he had survived the battle despite us being at a 5-point disadvantage.

"Team 100 wins the match by points and kills," Heathrow said from his floating platform. "Winners, you will be teleported out now."

I appeared in the battle waiting room to a very excited Rose.

"You did it!"

Riari teleported in next, falling unconscious the moment his feet touched the floor. I caught him before he fell, and nodded towards the door. Rose opened it, and I walked out carrying Riari on my shoulders. As had happened after the first round with Team 29, we came face to face with Team 36.

"How did you do that?" The female asked.

I stared at her for a moment, deciding the best way to deflect.

"Do what?"

"You know exactly what the hell I'm talking about," She said, obviously not the slightest bit deterred. "You can create voids."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Do you think I'm so stupid as to believe that was an accident? Most Imperial Battlemages can't create voids, much less some unknown Candidate with the lowest affinity and magical defense scores of the class. So how the hell-"

"Hey!"

Three guards came out of the waiting room behind me to accost the female from Team 36.

"You lost, get over it," One of them said, pointing towards the exit. "If you can't accept that, you need to get out of the building."

The girl huffed and turned around, walking to her seat and sitting down quietly. The guards eyed me curiously, but slipped back into the battle waiting room without another word.

"All bark and no bite, apparently." Rose said, just loud enough for her to hear.

I shook my head and laid Riari down in our corner of the mass waiting room. It took him an hour of rest to wake up, and the matches were nearly over by that point. It was just past midday when the 32nd match concluded and Team 82's lone wolf stood victorious.

"Candidates, you may return to your rooms now. Since many of you were injured, there will be a fourth day of rest before the third round. Enjoy your time off. The losers of today's matches are free to do as they desire until next week, when the selections are announced."

I sighed, glad that the round was over. The battle had taken its toll on me again, although I hadn't expended all of my maniah and was therefore still able to function.

I noticed that many of the candidates were staring at me as we made our way through the still city streets to the hotel. Apparently I had made an impression on them.

"That's maybe not a good thing," Rose said when I mentioned it. "But it is what it is."

"They're probably staring at his damn muscles," Riari grumbled quietly.

I grinned and dragged him into the hotel, where I spent the rest of the day napping and eating everything I could get my hands on.

Late in the evening, just as I was lying down in my bed to sleep, a knock broke the silence of the dark room. I bolted upright, alarmed at the intrusion. Nobody had come to visit us yet.

Rose was still out in the city somewhere, and Riari was fast asleep, so I crept to the door. A dark-haired female covered by a hood was waiting outside.

"Who are you?" I called out, leaving the door bolted.

"Imperial Battlemage," She said, her voice surprisingly smooth. "I'm here to speak with Link White."

I was hesitant to open the door, but figured a battlemage could blow it off its hinges anyways. When I finally poked my head out, I was taken aback by the amount of maneah flowing around the strange woman in the hallway.

"How can I help you?" I asked curiously, hoping I wasn't about to be dragged out and killed. I wouldn't have stood a chance if she wanted to.

She stared at me for a few moments, her expression unreadable under the darkness of her hood. Finally she spoke up.

"I thought it was you."

I peered at her.

"Have we met?"

She nodded.

"Briefly. I know who you are, Link, though you will not remember me. Most here don't give current events the time of day, but I recognize the queen's most trusted guard and the Navy's best sniper when I see him."

"I'm afraid the fact that you know me from the outside is a problem. I'm an Outlier here, and I'm trying to keep that quiet among the other candidates."

"Do not presume that your status as an Outlier merits any real significance until those candidates feel threatened by you," She said. "That aside, I have something I'd like to speak to you about. If you have a moment, that is."

I knew immediately that it didn't matter if I had a moment or not. She was going to speak to me either way.

"Come in, I suppose."

I opened the door all the way and let her in, ushering her to the balcony so that we wouldn't disturb Riari. When we were outside, she lowered her hood and turned towards me. I was struck with her appearance. She bore a striking resemblance to Zelda, although her hair was pitch-black and her eyes red. She didn't look to be much older than me.

"I suppose we've never had time for a proper introduction," She said. "My name is Hilda. I'm a King's Arm Battlemage that's been assigned to watch candidates as they go through the Continent of Tests. Due to that position, I was present during your battle today.

"Needless to say, I was impressed with your ability to create a void. Not only that, but once you abandoned your defense you were able to create two different voids and maintain them both while in close combat. I understand that you're already extremely experienced in combat, though, so I'm not entirely surprised."

She paused for a moment, giving me a hard look.

"What I saw today was rough, but it wasn't something a candidate who just discovered a new magical world two weeks ago should be capable of. You're learning to use magic at a blistering pace, and I think you need to be trained so that you know how to control it. I'm convinced that you can become one of the strongest battlemages to ever come out of the Gauntlet if you have good teachers."

"So what are you getting at?" I asked.

"I'm asking you to join my faction and be properly trained," She replied.

I stared at her for a moment, confused.

"I guess I'm not surprised that the battlemages have factions, but can you explain them to me?" I asked after a moment.

She nodded.

"As I said, I'm a member of King's Arm. The other two reputable factions are Winged Tree and Death's Messengers. We all focus on different aspects of the magical world, but ultimately aim to serve Hyrule and the royal family. There are other… less reputable factions. The only one you're likely to run into is M80."

"What makes M80 so unsavory?" I asked.

"They have different goals. Namely they disapprove of magicians cooperating with the Hylian Empire, and aim to sever that connection. You may see one or two administrators from them, so be prepared."

"Okay, I'll keep an eye out," I said. "But why are you in here trying to recruit me? My two teammates are far more powerful and would probably respond better to training."

"Your two teammates are Elites." Hilda said with a shrug. "The five families couldn't have any less of an interest in the factions. They work with us, but don't see organizations outside of their ranks as worth dealing with. Furthermore, even if your teammates would give me the time of day, I would still seek to recruit you. The blistering pace at which you learn to use magic hasn't been matched in several centuries here on the Gauntlet."

I doubted that, but didn't say anything. This sounded like a typical recruiting scheme.

"What's the goal of King's Arm, then?" I asked.

"We are the backbone of the Hylian military's magical might," Hilda said. "As a King's Arm Battlemage, you operate from within the military and assist where needed. As you've seen throughout your career, we don't surface very often. That's due in part to our limited numbers, but also because we only show up in times of dire need. Such as when a Black Ops sniper is stuck underneath a kilometer-wide artillery barrage."

Suddenly the gears clicked and I knew why I recognized her.

"It was you," I said, peering at her.

"It was indeed," Hilda replied. "I was in the area because I sensed your… peculiar magical energy. Then you called in for help and I decided to break cover. I'm also rather curious as to why the nature of your maniah has changed so drastically."

"It's a long story," I said, shrugging. "I don't particularly care to go into it."

"Very well, I'll respect your privacy," She replied. "Give some thought to my offer. I'll come back after the third round and answer any questions you have. I will also sweeten the deal by guaranteeing your team's selection to continue to the next round of tests if you decide to join us."

"I'll be honest, don't count on it," I said. "I might have questions, but I'm not going to commit to making a decision."

"That's fine. You're facing Team 4 next, right?"

I nodded.

"They have 5 members, and are considered to be one of the most powerful teams in this tournament," Hilda said. "Let me train you for the next few days, and you can see for yourself if you need King's Arm."

I pondered the offer for a moment, and then nodded. Being trained certainly wouldn't hurt my chances, and I had been nervous about fighting Team 4 anyways.

"I don't see any reason to turn down free training," I said. "When and where?"

"I'll come get you in the morning," Hilda replied.

I nodded again and opened the door, ushering her into the room and to the front door. As she walked out, I stopped her.

"I never had a chance to say thank you," I said. "You saved my life, and I won't forget that."

Hilda nodded, and then left without another word.

…

Delays, I know. I got married and moved in the past couple months, so you guys will have to give me a pass on this one. Let me know what you think.