Doronbo was nervous.
"Are you sure he won't die?" He asked Totamaru and Sol, the S-class mages waiting with him by Jose's tent's entrance, hoping they wouldn't hear any screams from inside.
"Don't worry, Doronbo," Totomaru said, as confident as he could be under the circumstances.
"I'm sure Pause'll be fine." Totamaru said, "The guild master hasn't killed an active member in ages."
"He's killed a guild member!" Doronbo panicked, his eyes widening as Totamaru cursed and Sol spoke up thoughtlessly.
"Oui," Sol counted the money from betting, too distracted to notice how pale Doronbo had gotten, "But it was l'histoire ancienne one might say. Totamaru and I were not even members when it happened. We only know of it from the tales our seniors used to tell."
"And as seniors," Totamaru hissed, glaring at Sol until he stopped counting his betting pool and shrugged. The two silently butt heads before Totamaru clicked his tongue and turned back to Doronbo, one bad revelation away from passing out, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"They were full of shit." Totamaru tried to assuage Doronbo's worries. "They just said whatever they could think of to scare recruits. Trust me."
Totomaru grinned as he saw Doronbo's paleness fade slightly, and his shaking began to calm.
"Pause will be fine." Totomaru gave a thumbs up, wishing he could kick himself in the teeth a second later as booming laughter came from inside the guild master's tent. The sound was so hauntingly unfamiliar that everyone who heard it seemed to freeze. Their thoughts circled the worst-case scenario as they turned to the tent and watched shades slipping through the walls, cackling so loudly it looked like they were holding their stomachs.
"Sacre bleu." Sol dropped his money in shock, "Le maitre de guilde... is laughing?"
"What does that mean!?" Doronbo shouted in panic-stricken horror, startling Totomaru and Sol as they looked back ten or so feet to see him cowering behind a barrel.
When'd he get there? He had been standing next to them a second ago.
"Well, I'm not sure. Never seen it happen before." Totomaru scratched his cheek, tilting his head curiously at the kid before looking back at the tent. All the shades were slowly starting to fade, reigned in as the guild master's laughter slowly died.
Maybe it was because of the shock of finding out the guild master had a sense of humor, but after the laughter had ceased and the shades had dissipated, it sounded like the tent was completely silent.
It was unnerving.
"Have you ever considered getting a new partner?" Totomaru asked, giving up on trying to cheer Doronbo up with hopeful lies. The guild master laughed. Pause was dead. Ripping that bandage off now was better than keeping Doronbo from accepting reality later.
His tough love might've been a little too tough, though, since Doronbo fainted behind the barrel the second he heard the bad news.
"Your speeches sont de la merde."
"Shut up, Sol; I didn't see you helping," Totomaru grumbled, walking past his amused partner and to the kid, poking his face to try and wake him up.
"Oi, Doronbo, wake up. I was joking."
He wasn't, but now wasn't the time for that.
"Come on, we can still look for Pause's body- I mean, we can still look for Pause after the guild master-"
"He already left," a very tired, very alive Pause walked out of the guild master's tent, prompting Totomaru and Sol to screech and jump back in fright.
"What the hell are you doing here!" Totomaru shrieked, "I thought you were dead!"
"Reste en arriere, fantome!" Sol waved his hands out, prompting a laugh out of Pause as he walked past them and reached into his requip space.
"Why wouldn't I be here? And why wouldn't I be alive?" Pause asked curiously, Totomaru and Sol sealing their lips shut as he shook his head and took a water bucket out of his requip space.
"Well, whatever the case, I finished my talk with the guild master." Pause mentioned, "He disappeared with some scarred guy afterward. So I left."
Totomaru and Sol watched curiously as Pause dumped the bucket's contents over his partner, waking the poor kid in a panicked shout.
"Pause is dead!"
"I'm not."
"Pause!" Doronbo cheered, tripping on the wet grass as he tried to rush for a hug. Falling to the ground with an 'oomph', he looked down at the puddle left behind from Pause's bucket, and the splotches it left on his prized green fuzzy pajama onesie.
"No!" Doronbo gasped in genuine horror and cried, "My pajamas! Pause! You should've died!"
"We'll use a drying spell on them when we're back in town." Pause rolled his eyes, dragging Doronbo by the back of his hoodie and waving goodbye to Sol and Totomaru, "See you after the trials."
"Au revoir."
"See you," Totomaru mumbled, still slightly confused but eventually getting over it.
"Those two are a funny duo."
Although considering Sol had already changed his focus to which bets he could wring out of the failing contestants, Totomaru didn't have room to talk.
It took Pause and Doronbo thirty minutes to get back to Oak Town. The two stuck to the east side of town since most of the others were war zones.
It took another hour to clean Doronbo's clothes so he'd stop cursing Pause's name.
"Is that to your liking?" Pause sighed, finishing his sixth drying spell and watching as Doronbo inspected his work. Lingering on his pants legs for a full minute before nodding, "Acceptable."
"You're a handful sometimes, you know that?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Doronbo shouted, dutifully ignored as Pause shook his head and turned to the rest of the city. The sounds of battle were still raging across town, but some were starting to die down. The north and central were dwindling—the conflicts were most likely ending soon since the remaining participants continued to fall.
Remaining Participants: 42
It was a significant drop from the first day, indicative of how good the candidates were, but the real battle was about to start with the majority of the lesser mages getting taken out.
"Doronbo." Pause interrupted Doronbo's rant about the importance of dry cleaning. He took a blank page in his book and wrote down a message.
"Be quiet for a moment."
"Why?" Doronbo asked, leaning over curiously as he tried to read the note, "And who are you writing to?"
"Someone useful," Pause said, finishing the note as a pale magic circle flashed beneath his palms. The paper folded in on itself until it became a butterfly, flapping its wings until it flew off into the air and towards the opposite edge of town.
"Now we just have to wait for their answer."
"Then what?" Doronbo asked, sitting at an empty table in an empty restaurant, "And how did it go with the guild master? I'm nervous Pause. You haven't said anything since we left."
"Cuz you've been glaring at me the entire time."
"You messed up my pajamas." Doronbo shrugged shamelessly. "Those are two separate things."
"I don't see how," Pause responded flatly and pulled up a seat. "But if you must know, the guild master said he'd consider my wish—on the condition that I beat the trials."
"Oh, that's good, right? That's what you wanted?"
"He laughed in my face when he heard I didn't want to fight anymore."
"Oh, that's less good." Doronbo mumbled, slumping back in his chair as he sighed, "So you'll still have to fight, even after all this is over. That's awful."
"He still agreed to consider it if I win," Pause said, surprising Doronbo as he shrugged. "He laughed and told me something along the lines of 'you're living in a fool's fantasy.' But he never said no. He doesn't seem like the type to break his word."
"So there's a chance?" Doronbo sat up with a growing smile, "If you win?"
"He'll consider it." Pause mumbled, glancing away guiltily as he rubbed his neck, "I... I couldn't find a way to ask the same for you. He was barely taking me seriously as it was. I'm sor-"
"That's great news!" Doronbo cheered, surprising Pause, who held out his hand for a high five. "Good job, Pause. I'm glad it worked—sort of. You didn't die, so I'd say it was a win."
"I couldn't get a deal for you, Doronbo." Pause reiterated with a frown, lightly tapping Doronbo's hand as he said, "I know you're scared of fighting."
"Deathly. It makes me want to vomit."
"So why are you celebrating?" Pause asked, surprised to see his friend, who prioritized a fuzzy green pajama onesie over anything else, adopt a sincere expression.
"Because if things work out, you won't have to fight anymore." Doronbo grinned cheerfully, stunning Pause as he leaned back in his chair carelessly.
"Besides, I'm afraid of a lot of things; fighting's just one of them," Doronbo said as he rocked back and forth on his chair leg, "But you hate fighting. So if one of us should get the chance to avoid it, I'd rather it be you. I think you deserve it more."
"Don't say dumb things, Doronbo."
"I'm not," Doronbo said sincerely, his ringed yellow eyes locking on Pause in a rare show of seriousness.
"When we were in dark guilds, mine only wanted my magic. So I could get away with stealing to pay tribute. I was lucky." Doronbo said softly, glancing towards the glove on Pause's right hand.
"You weren't."
Pause instinctively grit his teeth, shoving his gloved hand into his pocket as he looked away.
"This is pointless." He muttered, stopping Doronbo's rebuttal with a quick kick to the chair leg he was balancing on. Sending his friend tumbling to the ground with a startled yelp: "Pause!?"
"Let's talk about the plan for today," Pause said, refusing to falter under Doronbo's wounded look as the pajama enthusiast got back up and rubbed his tailbone.
"Fine." Doronbo sighed as he sat back in his chair and immediately groaned, "But do we have to?"
"Yes."
"But it's so nerve-wracking!" Doronbo cried, slumping against the table in a loud whine. "Why do we have to attack today? Can't it be tomorrow?"
"It can't." Pause said firmly, "It has to be today."
Pause watched as Doronbo whimpered, pouting with his chin on the table like a scolded puppy. The sight was so pitiful that he decided to throw Doronbo a bone.
"But it doesn't have to be right now."
"Really?" Doronbo perked up, eyes bright as Pause nodded and took out a book to read, "Really. We still have to wait for the answer, and even then, I want to wait for a specific moment to attack. That moment hasn't happened yet, so for now, we'll wait."
"That's wonderful." Doronbo melted into a puddle of pure relief, his bliss lasting a few seconds before he flinched and cried, "But we still have to choose who to go for. It's over, Pause! I'm gonna die!"
"You're not gonna die."
"I'm gonna die." Doronbo sniffled, quickly paling as he trembled and rambled, "Who do you think would kill me least? There's Vera, but he's scary. There's Mira, but she's also scary, and I owe her money, so she might hurt me even worse! And then there's Siegrain. He wouldn't kill me, but I don't think we can beat him. Pause! He fights Aria! He'll-"
"I already chose our target," Pause said, ignoring Doronbo's gasp of surprise and mortification. The pajama mage left to cry as Pause glanced at a white bird flying over the town, distant enough that no one could make out its details.
"I chose them a while ago, actually. So don't worry," Pause turned back to his partner, "Just follow my lead, and everything will work out."
Doronbo looked so nervous he wanted to vomit.
"I don't think we'll lose."
Pause might've felt the same if it wasn't for the pit in his stomach.
South Oak Town
When Aria returned from watching the games over the city, he didn't expect to hear rumors of a series of loud cackles coming from the guild master's tent.
He also didn't expect to find the guild master in such a good mood.
"Did something good happen while I was away?" Aria asked as the two hovered over the campsite, his head tilted curiously as Jose smirked, "No, however, something comical found its way to my doorstep."
"Oh?"
"Yes, it was a rather humorous conversation," Jose said, tilting his head towards the projection above the town and looking around the medical camp. Well over 300 people were already present, and soon, the total would reach 400.
It would begin any moment now.
The real fun.
"I think you would've enjoyed it," Jose said, ignoring Aria's curiosity as he took a cup of tea and watched the dwindling chaos across town. His eyes lingered on the only place where violence didn't seem to be slowing at all—if anything, it was in full swing.
"The bookworm has a sense of morality as curious as yours."
On the West side of Oak Town, things were heating up.
West Oak Town
A white bird flew over Oak Town, high in the noontime clouds, its minuscule shadow falling over a group of mages chasing a lone swordsman through the streets. His footsteps were fast and light as he dashed through alleyways for the second day.
So damn persistent. Vera took a heavy breath as he turned a corner, his eyes wide as a giant big-bellied man with arms the size of cannons awaited him with an iron club. Vera's face twisted in sudden effort as he leaned back, practically falling under the blow, sliding haphazardly to safety on the other side.
"Pesky gnat!" The man growled, kicking the ground as a brown magic circle flashed at his feet. Rocks the size of bowling balls shot out of the ground, and with a swing of his iron club, they battled towards like lethal projectiles.
"Where did you even come from?" Vera scowled as he clicked his sword from its sheathe, lightning crackling as he cut two of the rocks in half and got nicked by the third. Ignoring the blood on his shoulder, he dashed to meet the man head-on, ducking under a heavy swing at the last minute and jumping off the wall to the man's back, leveling his feet on the man's broad shoulders and pointing his sword downwards.
"Night, night, fatso," Vera said, stabbing his sword into the man's shoulder and turning up the voltage. The giant's screams echoed through the abandoned alley as Vera heard his pursuers shouting and was forced to dodge the man's meaty grip as he tried to reach up and pry his sword from his shoulder.
"You little brat!" The man hissed, his breath heavy and his muscles spasming, "That hurt!"
"Wow, you're still awake?" Vera chuckled, "Did blubber help?"
Vers ducked out of the way of another swing as magic spells began littering the streets like air bombardments, catching the giant in the crossfire as Vera broke through a nearby door, rolling over the dining table and flipping it over as he crouched behind his makeshift shield.
"He's in here!" Vera heard one of Boze's men shout. The familiar hum of magic started up as Vera kicked the table towards the door. A startled yelp erupted from the mage in the doorway as a fireball exploded the table into pieces, and Vera dashed through the rubble, sword aimed at the closest mage in sight.
"You're all annoying," Vera said as he swung his sword out and slammed its spine into the man's side. The loud crackle of electricity mixed with the snap of a broken rib as he knocked the man off his feet and sent him flying into a dresser. The shattering of glass and exotic china was overshadowed by the group of mages angrily rushing into the house.
"That's 4," Vera mumbled as he kicked off the chest of a mage with spikes along his skin; the bloody gash left in Vera's foot was ignored as he vaulted back and cut through the back wall, opening to an alley that he immediately darted to.
He kicked up the opposite wall and reached an open window on the second floor.
There were 12 when I started. Vera thought as he swiftly climbed inside the empty bedroom.
The shouts and spells aimed at his fading back shook the house as he darted throughout the room, taking a nearby grandfather clock and knocking it over as he heard voices coming rushing up the stairs.
That fatso wasn't a part of Boze's group, just another contestant. Vera noted that as he kicked the old clock down the stairs, the pained yells and surprised shouts told him he'd at least bought himself some time. Maybe a minute if he was lucky.
Even if he didn't get knocked out, he doesn't look like a runner, so he isn't a variable anymore. Vera decided, running to the opposite end of the second floor and cutting through the drywall, jumping straight into a new street as he heard Boze's voice from uphill.
"Where are you running to Vera?" Boze shouted, the sound of his magic soaring through the air as Vera clicked his tongue and ducked.
The air shook above his head as the sonic blast shot through the air and shattered the window of a nearby convenience store, alerting Boze's group to Vera's location.
Boze is so annoying. Vera frowned as he jumped into the convenience store, rolling over glass as shards cut his back and arms, before sprinting out the back entrance.
Fighting Boze in a storm of magic spells sounded like a nightmare. His attacks were hard to dodge, harder to see, and fast as hell.
I can't fight them in a group.
Unlike the other idiots at the start of the trials, Boze's group was coordinated. If Vera fought them, even four or five at a time, the rest would swarm him, and he'd be overwhelmed. Or Boze would get a lucky shot in, and that would be it. Vera could only lose once.
They still had eight chances left.
There are eight left. How do I get rid of 8...
Vera felt sweat drip down his face as he vaulted over an empty cart, landing in a roll and continuing his sprint. His eyes narrowed as he looked behind and saw four of his chasers hot on his tail. The others must've been flanking or hanging back if he tried to blitz his immediate pursuers.
Boze organized this well.
It was textbook; this was the closest he'd felt to pressure since the forest.
That being said... it's still tame compared to back then.
Boze's group was missing something compared to when Eisenwhalde was hunting him and the Strausses. There were key differences.
They didn't have an Erigor. And this was a test. None of his pursuers were going for the kill, and none of them could put his mind on edge as Erigor did.
Boze was the only one who could put up a good fight, but Vera was confident he was better.
Vera wouldn't lose a fight with any of his hunters.
So, in that regard, what Vera had to do was clear.
Piece by piece.
There were just too many of them to do anything else. If he tried to challenge more them as a group and failed, he'd lose, so he had to do things the hard way.
Until there was only one left, even if he was lying in a puddle of sweat and vomit afterward, he'd take them out one at a time until there was one left.
I'll pick you apart piece by piece, Boze.
Maybe after that, he could finally get some peace and quiet.
Central Oak Town
It was quiet at Phantom Lord's fake guild hall, the silent hilltop overlooking the turbulent city. With shouts still raging in the west and a similar quiet growing in the north, Siegrain watched from the guild's rooftop, inspecting the projection above.
Participants remaining: 36
Siegrain took a relieved breath. Taking out a juice box as he overlooked the tens of unconscious mages he'd left lying around the courtyard. It took longer than he expected to find the stragglers, but with this, his section of town was pretty much cleared.
It took long enough. Siegrain sighed as he drank his juice, finishing the box in a single gulp. He tossed the trash and glanced towards the other sections of town.
He was pretty sure the brute was in the north; all the explosions from yesterday were her style, so that meant Vera was the one in the west.
He must've been unlucky. Siegrain frowned as he rubbed his wrists and stretched his arms. He'd used more magic than he would've liked taking care of the horde, but he still had a decent amount in the tank. He wasn't in danger of magic depletion.
Not yet, at least.
"You can come out now," Siegeain said, his legs swinging over the top of the damaged guild hall gates as a light voice echoed below.
"I wasn't hiding." A girl said, walking out the gates of Phantom Lord's entrance directly beneath his feet. He looked down, noting the top of a phantom lord jester's hat and t-shirt with ripped-off sleeves to showcase the toned arms the girl was sporting.
"Sneak attacks just aren't my style." The girl looked up to meet his gaze and smirked. Siegrain recognized her instantly. From the shoulder-length dark green hair and light brown skin. To the green gem on her forehead and loose red fighting tape on her forearms. He remembered her.
"That's unfortunate..."
She was the brute's friend, Sue, if he recalled.
"You would've had a better chance if they were."
He could see why they got along.
North Oak Town
The north side of Oak Town had finally become quiet after two days of heavy battles. Echoes of explosions and magic destruction traded for dry silence, with the final three mages laid out at Mira's feet to try their luck. It had been a long morning.
It's safe to say it was worth it, though.
"Finally." Mira released her transformation and tired breath as she stood atop the rubble leftover from the morning rush, tilting her head to the projections above the guild hall and smiling.
Participants remaining: 29
She did a good job.
Although she guessed blue helped out a little too.
"Wonder if he fought anyone good, yet?" Mira mumbled as she glanced towards the Center of Oak Town. She didn't get to fight anyone memorable yet, most were just run-of-the-mill. But going off the relative quiet near the guild hall, blue hadn't either. It was a little disappointing.
"At least Vera's having some fun." Mira snorted as she turned to the battle still raging in the west, her neck prickling as she saw a fist flying at her face. Her transformation returned half a second too late as she was clocked in the face and sent flying. Ricocheted off a surprise kick to her stomach, sending her crashing into a shitty motel.
She blinked at the suddenness of it all. The pain in her cheek was sharper than in her gut. So that meant two people attacked her, and they were both working together. They had also waited until she released her transformation to attack.
They didn't pull any punches. Bastards.
"Ow," she grumbled, impressed as she watched the old building collapse on top of her, rubble showering like rain. She built dark magic up in her body until she could release it in a dark explosion, blowing the rubble off her and into the stratosphere.
"That fucking hurt." Mira grinned, walking out of the debris and into the open street. Her eagerness and irritation faltered as she saw who punched her.
"I'm so sorry, Mira!"
Along with the one who kicked her.
"I'm not." Mira heard from her left, blinking in surprise as a sharp kick connected to her cheek. It stung a bit, the force whipping at Mira's hair as she tanked the hit calmly. Tilting her head at the blow and who sent it, before grinning sharply.
"That hurt," Mira complimented, her blue eyes meeting a matching pair as she reared her fist. "Your magic lessons must finally be paying off. Good job, Lisanna."
Mira was extra careful to keep the force toned down as much as possible as she snapped her fist into her sister's stomach. She didn't want to hurt her. Or Elfman for that matter.
"Now, let's move on to the next one!"
She just wanted to remind her little siblings who's boss.