South West Oak Town
Bright and early in the morning, birds chirped, and insects rustled in the waking forest. It was a rumbling chorus of rising animals.
But surrounding Boze's target, the only sound was silence.
"You're bluffing." Boze eventually broke the tense stand-off, plastering a confident smirk on his face as he laughed, "Take an arm? Are you fucking dumb? You ain't gonna do that. The guild master-"
"The guild master already did it." Vera scoffed, and the memory of the arm crushed by large oaken doors flashed through Boze's mind. His eyes widened slightly the exact moment everyone else recalled the gruesome moment. They had all been there.
They had also all been there when Vera and Boze sparred.
Hence, they couldn't help but believe Vera when he uttered his following outrageous sentence.
"Still not convinced? Just think about it," Vera said, tracing his finger along his neck as he smirked directly at Boze.
"If I can nearly kill a guild mate and got away with it, taking off an arm or two will be nothing."
It was nearly instant; how fast rage spread through Boze's body.
The same rage flowed amongst his group. The ones that had seen such a shitty incident and were incensed that it was allowed to happen. That Vera was allowed to get away with it.
It was rage that made them gnash their teeth and glare daggers at their target.
It was fear that kept their feet in place.
"What? Strike a nerve?" Vera taunted as it became clear no one wanted to make the first move. "Don't worry. I promise I'll strike a lot more."
It was a shit show.
In moments, Boze's plan had become a shit show, and as the taunting became louder, he realized he couldn't just have everyone rush in at once.
No one wanted to be the unlucky soul that tested whether Vera would keep his word.
There had to be someone to go first.
And that someone had to be Boze.
"What're you cowards waiting for!" Boze roared, startling his men as a purple magic circle began spinning at his feet.
"He's alone!"
Vera glanced his way, and the disinterest in Vera's eyes sparked something feral in Boze's heart. He felt rage flowing through his chest, and before he knew it, the hesitation and uncertainty that had been gnawing at his bones was replaced by fury.
"Bring it on, Vera!"
Boze readied a spell and took a single step forward.
"I'll-" Boze's declaration faltered because that one step forward changed everything.
Vera sprinted to the side in that one step, when his group was slowly transitioning from hesitant to hopeful, making a mad dash for one of Boze's surrounding mages.
"Stop him!" Boze shouted a second too late, firing a frantic spell from his hand as Vera dodged past a volley of staggered attacks. The unexpected burst of movement caused most Boze's group to panic and fail to correctly aim their first spells.
Still, a dozen people were aiming at one person.
One was bound to hit.
"Sound Wave!" Boze punched the air, and a loud bang echoed from his fist. The concussive force of his magic sent a blast of sound toward Vera.
The symphony of accompanying spells prevented Vera from dodging his blast completely. And when he turned to avoid it, the edge caught his shoulder and left a nasty bruise. The spell's impact knocked Vera slightly before he recovered and finally made it to his target.
Rom, the youngest member of Boze's group.
Vera must've decided he was the weakest link.
"Mud Wall," Rom panicked and flubbed his spell. His magic circle spoofing out of existence as he attempted to back away, only for Vera's sword to snap against his arm.
To the surprise and relief of Boze and his group, Rom's arm wasn't cut off.
But it did break.
"AGH!" Rom yelled as the sword's spine crunched against bone before the buzz of electricity filled the air, and volt after volt flooded Rom's body.
Ron fell to the ground in a twitching mess, shocked to unconsciousness.
And not even a moment later, Vera dashed through the hole he left in their ring, bolting straight towards Oak Town in the distance.
"Get him!" Boze shouted after the shock faded, spurring the others into chasing after Vera, tailing him out of the forest and towards Oak Town.
Boze didn't like how that exchange turned out. Vera escaping was shitty, and losing someone so quickly wasn't ideal, but it wasn't over yet. Nothing important had changed. Vera was still injured, which is why he was running.
"Don't let him get away!"
Boze's chance at S class hadn't faded yet.
Central Oak Town
Siegrain's dream of white walls and painful memories faded as he woke to a better ceiling. The rays of sunrise trickled through his apartment window as he slowly got his bearings.
"Too bright." He mumbled into his pillow, surprised he'd had such a tame night. He'd expected to get attacked when he was sleeping.
Its why he tied the door shut with his threads, but it seemed he wasn't the only one looking for rest.
The other candidates must've been tired, too.
It was funny, considering they weren't the ones being hunted, but he guessed it was a good thing. Fighting at night was annoying. It was a lot easier during the day.
"Speaking of which." Siegrain yawned, making himself a quick breakfast, toast, before he went to the window and opened it. Hiding himself in illusion magic, he floated out into the open and glided over the city, eventually reaching his perch above the guild hall and directly under the protections.
He checked the number of participants who left, a flat 100, meaning that the others had done their own work after he retired. It was a good sign for them, taking out over three-fourths of the competition in a single day, but it wasn't enough.
Siegrain wanted to weed out a little more.
"They probably won't fall for the same trick again," Siegrain murmured as he finished his breakfast.
He scanned the city. Eventually, settling on a new plan as he let his magic flow, and an illusion of himself appeared by his side. He then used a little more illusion magic to tinker with the projections above before bringing out water magic to finish up his morning chores.
"That should do it..."
He didn't feel like chasing, so if he spent a little extra magic to save time, it felt worthwhile.
"Now, all that's left is to wait."
He'd rather make them come to him instead.
The first day was a massacre.
"Can't believe they got us with the projection," Grant's friend grumbled, the duo getting ready to leave the house they commandeered for the night.
"We were blindsided." Grant clicked his tongue as he strapped his sword to his waist and pulled the door open, "Just be glad we didn't get picked off in the chaos yesterday. We still have a chance."
"Yeah, yeah, you're right," Rang grumbled, following Grant as the two walked into the streets of Oak Town at the earliest morning hours. The pavement mostly dried after the rain that had showered it yesterday.
The two listened to the chirping birds and the rust of other participants doing the same, some trying to get a head start on the day and others hoping to catch a candidate off guard.
Although they all had different reasons for waking so early, they reacted similarly when they turned the projection above town.
"The fucking bastard!" Rang growled, his sentiments echoed by Grant and a few other participants nearby. They're rage-dead set on the projection.
Candidate Slot 1
Name: Siegrain
Magic: Thread Magic, Elemental Magic, etc
Picture: Provided
Everything had been reset. There would be no more tricks like yesterday. His profile matched the others' to a T.
That wasn't what left the contestants enraged.
It was the information that had been added to his profile, right below his picture. It was big and bold, so no one could possibly miss it.
Location: Guildhall
It was just damn insulting.
"Bastard," Grant growled, quickly following Rang as they rushed towards the guild hall in the city's center. Their path was matched by countless others that had seen the blatant challenge and ran to meet it.
In the end, they unintentionally gathered a group of about five or six, arriving at the courtyard in front of the guild hall, where even more people were waiting. Their enraged expressions turned towards the boy with blue hair, sitting atop the gates.
He wore a dull expression, his brown eyes glazing past the new arrivals without hesitation.
"Twenty-six," the boy said, and Grant heard Rang lose his shit. Firing wind magic towards the boy as a few other new arrivals did the same. Their spells angled on a direct course before an earthen shield shot up from the ground, hovering before the boy.
The explosion sprayed dust through the air, smothering their view of the boy and shaking the front gates. Grant shielded his eyes as a shower of pebbles and debris fell upon the crowd, sinking into the various puddles littering the ground.
"Did you get him?" Grant asked, watching the dust cloud fall and revealing the boy still sitting atop the gates. Unscathed and unbothered.
"Thirty-one." The boy continued counting, and Grant felt unease seeping into his bones. He heard another chorus of shouts and magic being shot at the boy, but the results were similar.
When the smoke faded, the boy was unharmed, and the only indication that he'd even been attacked was the marks left on the gates and the walls behind him.
"Thirty-three, thirty-four."
All the while, he kept counting.
"Thirty-five," the boy said, and Grant gnashed his teeth. Trying to figure out what the fuck the boy was counting to. The fact that they couldn't leave a scratch on him was humiliating enough. Even with all of them attacking at once, they only damaged the doors and their pride.
Maybe if they gathered more people and attacked, it might...
if they gathered...
"How many people are here!" Grant snapped at a nearby mage, startling the man enough to drop his staff. The clattering caught the attention of people around them as the man sputtered off an answer off the top of his head.
"I don't know! Twenty or something, maybe! " the man said, right as the boy's words washed over the audience, which was slowly realizing something was off.
"There's 39 of you."
It was a startling realization they would've noticed earlier if they weren't blinded by anger.
The boy's defense seemed to be destroyed with every attack. In the heat of the moment, they thought it might have lasted long enough to block their attacks, but remnants of their magic were even splattered across the door and the wall behind the boy.
Only his body remained unblemished.
That was the first realization.
The second came when the unblemished and uninjured boy dissipated from his spot above the gates. Leaving behind evidence that their attacks had broken through the rock shield.
They just hadn't had a real target.
"It's a trick!" Grant yelled, trying to run before he heard the crackle of electricity above. Looking up too late to see the boy appear in the sky, dismissing the illusion around himself and revealing the blue magic circle spinning violently at his fingertips.
"I was waiting for more, but this will have to do."
Then, the final realization came, with the crackle of lightning at the boy's fingertips.
"Lightning Magic"
There was a lot of water on the ground.
"Kaminari"
And the pavement had mostly dried overnight.
North Oak Town
Mira woke up to the sound of a lightning strike.
"What the," she mumbled as she slowly woke on the ground, her bed of defeated candidates moved at some point in the night. Squinting her eyes to the morning sky above, she glimpsed past the white bird circling overhead, details muddled distance and the morning rays, and turned to the sound.
She saw blue lightning flash in the distance and sighed.
"Damn blue," Mira grumbled as she got up, stretching her arms as she heard shouts of nearby contestants spotting her. Their footsteps were getting closer as she ignored them and watched the projections.
At least he's efficient. Mira smirked as she watched the number of participants take a nosedive. Dropping from 100 to 61 in an instant.
It was a little annoying how Blue was racking up such a lead.
But it made her job easier, so she couldn't really complain.
"Guess I'll just have to put a little extra work in." She grinned, transforming as she turned to see the group of people, maybe five or six, aiming magic her way. Their efforts met with dark magic circling her hands as she leveled her arms and grinned.
"Let's have some fun, losers!"
Mira wouldn't want to lag behind her partner after all.
South Oak Town
Away from the battles that seemed to be brewing across fake Oak Town, a quiet section of tents outside the battlegrounds slowly awoke.
In the camp off the edge of Southern Oak Town, the infirmary tents began filling with patients. The quiet milling of doctors and nurses from the first day was replaced by injured mages, hobbling to their tents if they were lucky enough to stay conscious or dropped into it by Mest if they weren't.
It made the camp busier than before, but one section remained quiet.
The guild master's temporary office, a giant tent set up at the edge of camp, was left alone. Undisturbed. He only left his tent to give orders, check on any hiccups, or converse with Aria about the trials so far. Otherwise, it was easily understood by all the injured guild members not to risk getting on his bad side.
The last one to do that lost an arm.
Hence why, Jose found himself blissfully alone on the morning of the second day, watching the progress of the trials from the comfort of his temporary abode.
"It looks like things will start getting interesting soon," Jose murmured as he glimpsed the projector through his tent's open flaps. His candidates were churning through the bulk of the remaining riff-raff at a rapid pace.
In an hour or two, the weak would be weeded out, and the real fun could begin.
Barring his ex-apprentice, of course. He'd had enough fun to last the entire night.
"Has the rodent croaked yet?" Jose asked his shade, flicking his hand as the flap of his tent closed, leaving him in the darkness. He turned to see ghastly red eyes blinking his way. The quiet smile was matched by a taunting chuckle only he could hear.
"He's broken out of the trap and is going to Main Street. He probably wants to pick off his pursuers one at a time using the buildings."
"To be expected, and the mutt?"
"Just finished clawing his way out of the tower. Seems like he's going to recover before chasing again." Jose's shade giggled, flying over his shoulder as it tilted its head curiously, "But enough of these menial tasks you have me doing, Jose. When can it be my turn to play?"
"When I finish perfecting your spell," Jose said, coldly gazing at his shade, "Don't get cocky because you are the first one I chose. If you don't comply, I'll move on to the others."
"Big words when there are only two others like me."
"Yes, and both outclass you." Jose sneered, "That's why you shouldn't be so cocky about being first. You're the weakest of the three ghosts I can employ that spell upon. Taming you will be easiest. That's the only reason I chose you. There is no other."
"Oh, how I'd love to disagree with you." Jose's shade chuckled; its childish nature annoyed Jose to the point that he dismissed it.
"Are you Tired of me already?" The shade began to fade with a parting giggle. "Fine, I suppose I'll be obedient. Just remember Jose."
Jose scowled as he watched the ghost whisper a useless warning.
"I'm only doing this out of guilt and pity."
If such an obvious fact could be considered a warning.
"The others won't be as easy to persuade." His shade vanished, leaving Jose alone in his tent.
"Obviously." Jose muttered, "Compared to a coward, the other two will be far harder to control."
Jose heard a faint laugh, the echo of his shade enjoying the irony from down below.
"How petty." Jose grumbled, turning to the tent entrance and flicking his hand. Opening the entryway to right as one of his S class was about to knock on the wooden post.
"Oh shit, guild master." Totomaru chuckled nervously, "I wasn't trying to spy, I swear."
"Funny of you to think you'd be capable of such a thing." Jose smirked, sitting down a wooden chair as he beckoned Totomaru to enter, "So Totomaru, since you're here I suppose you have something important to tell me? Out with it. Has something happened with the trials?"
"No, from what I saw, they're going smoothly." Totomaru said, entering the room with an almost hesitant step, "But uh, the reason I'm here isn't for me."
"Elaborate."
"There's uh... a guild member that wants to see you."
"I don't have the patience to humor losers looking to complain." Jose growled, "Surely you aren't asking me to cripple them? That is the only outcome if they disturb me for such nonsense."
"No, the guild member, he's... well he's still in the trials," Totomaru said, surprising Jose as the fire mage sighed and scratched his head. Muttering something along the lines of 'I have no fucking clue what's going on in that kid's head' before spitting out what he seemed so hesitant to say.
"He says he wants to make a deal."
"A deal?" Jose raised an eyebrow, his interest growing as he sat up and chuckled, "Well, then. I suppose this could be an interesting way to pass the time. Send him here."
"Yes sir, I'll bring him-"
"I want to see him alone, Totomaru," Jose said, watching as his fire mage flinched. A flash of worry crossed Totomaru's face, before he nodded and left the tent.
"Yes guild master."
A few seconds later, a boy with black eyes, short gray hair, and black-framed magic glasses walked in. He wore a black sweater, brown cargo pants, and brown hiking boots. His mouth was also covered by a scarf, and his right hand was covered by a brown glove.
He was on the short side and a frailer constitution, but he looked oddly familiar.
It wasn't until Jose clocked the overabundance of pages in the boy's brown knapsack that he recalled this was the bookworm he'd let join years ago, not because of talent but because Aria had been persistent that it would aid the runts' transition into Phantom Lord.
"Greetings, guild master. " The boy bowed politely, prompting a snort from Jose. "Please, bookworm. I hardly have time for pleasantries. Say what you came to say and be done with it. I heard you wanted to make a deal with me."
"I do," the boy said, raising his head as he asked, "May I be blunt."
"Depends on my mood."
"I don't think S class is a suitable reward for these trials, " the boy said, and Jose blinked in surprise, nearly laughing at the boy's audacity.
"Seriously? You find my rewards unsuitable?" Jose asked, grinning cruelly as he let a hint of his magic seep out, prompting a shiver out of the boy.
Still, to Jose's surprise, the boy didn't back down. He continued looking forward despite his body's instinctive trembling and elaborated.
"Yes." He said firmly, "They are unsuitable, to me at least."
"Explain."
"I don't want to be S class, so the prospect of becoming one isn't enough to warrant me going after a candidate, " the boy said, and Jose frowned, letting the boy continue to see if it was worth breaking a few bones or not.
"Instead," The boy continued, "I want something else if I can eliminate a candidate."
"Something else? Do you hear yourself?" Jose scoffed, his shades hissing from the floors as he asked, "Tell me, bookworm. What makes you think you can come here and make these arrogant claims? What makes you think I'd even entertain the possibility of you defeating the S-class candidates, much less asking for a different reward."
Jose watched, confident the boy would falter under his growing magical pressure. His expectations slowly but surely met as the boy lowered his head, looking at the ground with clenched fists.
It was a pathetic display.
Until suddenly, it wasn't.
"Yesterday Vera fought the angry recruit—the one with piercings." The boy mumbled, surprising Jose as he recounted, "They went to the forest and probably destroyed the tower overnight. Mira was in the North taking care of the masses, and Siegrain was doing the same with the projector. Today, they'll finish thinning the herd."
Jose's initial surprise quickly turned into intrigue as he watched the boy's head rise and noticed his eyes darken. The light in his black pupils sank far below the surface, so quickly and proficiently that it must have happened more than once.
"Today, they'll be tired. They'll be stressed, and after fighting, they'll be relieved to have a break. They'll relax."
It was interesting. How quickly the boy grew cold at the thought of picking apart his friends' weakness. Or maybe it was somber? It was hard to tell.
"The chances of defeating one aren't zero." The boy said lifelessly, his dull eyes promptly fading as he watched quietly for Jose's reaction. Observant. Lingering on any twitch of Jose's face.
"Interesting," Jose murmured, a slight smirk growing as he reevaluated his previous assessment of the boy.
When the boy first arrived years ago, he seemed average, maybe with the potential to be above average one day, but never exceptional.
Since then, Jose clocked him as possibly intelligent with all the time he spent cooping up in the library. He was possibly decent at wielding his average magic. And he was possibly useful since the runts gravitated towards him and his friend so quickly.
All of Jose's impressions were possibilities.
Nothing was concrete.
After the boy's display, he readjusted his views.
The boy was definitely intelligent. He still had average magic, and physically, he was as underwhelming as he had always been, not a hint of muscle under his sweater, but he was oddly stubborn.
And far more brazen than Jose initially anticipated.
"Consideration," Jose said after a moment's thought, leaning on his fist as he smirked at the stunned boy.
"Upon eliminating a candidate and lasting till the third day," Jose elaborated, "I will agree to consider changing your reward. The same way I am only offering others the consideration of S class should they make it to the third day."
"Thank you, guild master." The boy bowed. "That is all I ask."
"What did I say about pleasantries?" Jose snarked, watching as the boy raised his head and nodded. "Sorry, guild master."
"Enough bookworm." Jose said and motioned for him to speak, "Out with it. What is it you want?"
Jose didn't believe the bookworm would pull off whatever he had his sights on. He believed that one needed more than intelligence to defeat the candidates he'd chosen, but the boy said it himself, the chances weren't zero. And he didn't back down or falter in his negotiations. He stood his ground.
His stubbornness had impressed Jose enough to warrant a chance. It was better than those that would cower, begging at his feet.
He much preferred the boy's blunt approach.
"If I take out a candidate." The boy continued bluntly, his eyes steady enough that Jose wondered what other surprises the boy would reveal.
"And last till the third day."
There had already been so many, and it hadn't even been an hour.
"I only want one thing."
The boy was surprisingly bold and intelligent. He could be surprisingly observant and calculative when needed. But what surprised Jose the most was his personality.
"I don't want to fight anymore."
He was also a comedian.