NOVEL NEXT Chapter 131: Usage
Flowers, ethereal and glowing bloomed from the dusty floor of the training field, conjured into existence by a back-pedalling teen as their opponent closed the distance with flames wreathing their clenched fists. His name, as Leif had overheard when the boy introduced himself to his opponent, was Jason.
Jason’s [Attuned: Spring] class made him the centre of much attention, both from his fellow guild applicants, but also the full guild members who were spectating or organising the individual matches. His long blond hair whipped around his face as he projected a blade of wind towards his much faster opponent.
The other boy, who had introduced himself as Mareen swatted the elemental attack out of the air, rushing forward even as his every footstep kicked up ethereal pollen, coating his plain, and slightly scorched clothing in glowing dust. Whatever the strange skill’s effect was Jason’s opponent was unlikely to find out, the other boy lashing out with a flame cloaked foot to clip him in the side.
The blond teen tumbled across the ground as he came to a stop, a buffer of conjured wind slowing his fall. He reached out, pulling streams of ethereal pollen towards him, absorbing them into his body.
It was some sort of healing skill, though it was cut short when Mareen dashed forward and slapped the odd class user into the protective shielding with a flaming palm, causing them to flicker, then fade as Jason yielded, face smouldering.
“That is a very interesting class.” Lars observed, watching from the side-lines with Darius and Leif as Mareen pulled his dazed opponent up off the ground.
“Does he have a wind-based class as well? Or were those air blades something to do with spring?” Leif asked, sensing as the vibrant vitality contained within the dissipating flowers wilted away.
“Yes, he has [Attuned: Wind] as well.” Darius said. “Even if this is his second loss in the individual bouts, he’s pretty much a sure thing with his unusual class, not to mention having two attuned classes before the first advancement.”
“Healing too, even if it’s quite weak.” Leif said, nodding to himself. Several of the tryout attendees had self healing skills, though they were only successfully used outside of combat, the skills being too slow and ineffective for instantaneous healing. Leif wondered if that was exclusively due to the people using them being low level, or if self healing was a fairly weak skill archetype most of the time.
A young woman fighting in the under twenties bracket dual wielding twin blades unleashed a devastating barrage of lightning quick strikes against her thaumaturgical orientated foe. Her opponent wore a black mask that covered their entire features, the magic they flung towards their more aggressive foe seeming to linger within the air, floating around like a dark miasma.
Leif felt spikes of uncontrolled emotions spike within the dual wielder, a mix of hatred, anger and doubt threatening to overwhelm her mind. Like most weapon users Leif had seen fight, she was far faster and stronger than the magic user she faced, but that strength meant little when she started swiping at phantoms, screaming for her opponent to fight her all while tears ran down her cheeks.
The fight concluded when she collapsed into a sobbing tangle of limbs, swords clattering to the ground as she curled up into herself. Her opponent staggered away, they removed their mask and threw up, gasping as if in pain. Mocking laughter came from the other tryout attendees, to them it must have looked like a pathetic display of both combatants flailing around, then falling over.
“An [Acolyte] Lars said, nodding towards the previously masked thaumaturge. “Emotional manipulation. Can have quite the nasty variety of side effects for both the user and the victim.” The enforcer blurred as he skipped over to both distraught humans, his presence seeming to stabilise them emotionally.
The under twenties shuffled over to where the over twenties had been fighting, the much smaller demographic having already concluded their series of duels. Darius’s green eyes were watching the under ten duel that was still underway, two spear users circling each other, though neither seemed willing to engage.
“How are the group-” Leif went to ask, then a whisper of intent leaked into his perception. It was a vague feeling, the only reason he noticed it at all was likely the odd sense of familiarity it carried. The scion turned in the direction he had sensed it originate, but the cluster of other applicants in the under twenties group made it impossible to tell the source.
The dual wielder from the fight that had just concluded suddenly let out a hoarse cry of rage, lurching towards her opponent even though their fight had concluded. The [Acolyte] didn’t have time to react, they let out a yelp of surprise as wooden blades carved down towards their neck.
Lars neatly stepped in, the man having only been a metre away, and caught her arms, easily restraining the dual wielder due to his much higher attributes. But the guild hopeful seemed to ignore his presence, gritting her teeth and trying to kick out at her former opponent. The [Acolyte] scrambled away, looking panicked. Lars frowned down at the girl, he said something that Leif couldn’t make out over the yelling and jeering from the watching crowd. The girl seemed to jerk upright, suddenly aware of her position as she looked around with wide, confused eyes.
“What the hells?” Darius muttered. “What is with the under twenties in this batch, first it was the two kids outside the gate, then the [Mage] during skill testing.”
Leif wasn’t sure if he was sensing things that didn’t exist. He wasn’t in the most stable mental space after having [Sympathy From Experience] activate automatically when he read Flavia’s letter. Surely what I sensed was real? He thought, scanning the group where he had detected the odd intent. But it didn’t appear again. “I think… I think someone in the under twenties group used some sort of skill.” He mentally sent Darius, the man’s eyes narrowing as he looked in their direction.
“Really?” He asked, sounding concerned. “What kind? Mind magic?”
“Maybe, it was very subtle, somehow familiar.”
“Like one of your skills? Plant magic?”
“No.” Leif said, talking towards where Lars was scolding the thoroughly distraught young woman. “Lars, I sensed some sort of skill being used before she attacked, it came from the under level twenty kids.”
A guild official was scribbling notes onto a pad, they looked up, frowning as Leif stepped down into the training courtyard. But the functionary didn’t speak up, noticing that Darius was following him.
Lars paused, considering the telepathic message Leif had sent him. “Are you certain?” He silently replied.
“Not really, I’m not sure what I detected.”
“I see.” He replied, then turned to the dual wielder. “Take a seat, we will discuss your actions later. For now you are not permitted to participate in the fighting.
“Y-yes sir. I’m sorry sir, I don’t know what came over me.” She said, eyes reddened with tears. She knelt, picking up her training swords, then she scurried off to the sidelines.
===
Vitras was having the time of his life. There were so few situations where you could really go all out, using every tool at your disposal to eke out any and every advantage. His soul twinged with pain from skill overuse, but he grinned and ignored it, watching the final duel of the under twenties come to sudden conclusion as a dagger user made a desperate dive under his opponent's wild swing, stabbing the other man in the gut and driving the wind from his lungs.
He clapped and cheered along with the rest of his cohort, though internally he was already preparing for the group fights. Vitras was no expert combatant, and he was far, far weaker than the four team captains from the over twenty division. But he had other advantages, and he had been skillfully using those advantages to subtly remove the most powerful competition.
A silent whisper here, a subtle suggestion there. It wasn’t strictly honourable, but it was certainly resourceful. His father would be proud, doubly so when he got a position in the prestigious Twin Heart guild. All he would need to do was put up a good showing in the final rounds, something that would be easy now that he was the only [Mage] left in all three divisions.
To his side a pair of girls were talking about which of the four captains they hoped to join in the team duels. Sure, the hard hitting man with the flaming fists had gone undefeated against the other three in his division, but Vitras personally hoped he would be slotted with the strange plant mage.
Anyone with a wide ranging healing skill, likely some sort of domain would be invaluable in a team situation. Even if his personal combat abilities were below his peers, his skills would be indispensable for the upcoming fights.
Speaking of indispensable... He thought, pushing his way through the crowd and towards his next target. The older man, likely the oldest of everyone who had attended the guild tryouts, was sitting off to the side, toying with a glass bauble, rolling it between dexterous fingers.
Vitras had already given the man a suggestion earlier in the day, though he hadn’t ended up activating it. It was more a precautionary use of his skill to remove a potential threat, a threat the glass manipulator hadn’t been, but likely would be if they were selected into different teams.
His skill required line of sight as well as a verbal component. A verbal component he could make completely silent with his [Subtle Casting] skill. Life would be so much harder without my classes. Vitras thought, silently mouthing his suggestion for the glass user to forfeit control over his materials if the secondary part of his skill was triggered. His suggestion from earlier in the day had been slowly wearing off, no point risking it not activating and potentially costing him his rightful position within the guild.
Vitras backed up into the crowd once again, keeping his movements casual and smile friendly. He planted another two suggestions on those he hoped wouldn’t be on his team, even though doing so made him sweat slightly from the internal discomfort of skill overuse.
He loved [Bestow Orders], of all his skills it was by far his favourite, even if people from other walks of life likely wouldn’t agree. But that was why he was using an aura mask, his peers didn’t have to know, in fact it was better that they didn’t. Besides, it wasn’t like anyone would fault him for using an ability he had rightfully earned, from a class that had been rightfully passed down to him. There was nothing wrong with being better than everyone else, and if anyone disagreed he could always change their minds.