The first two days had gone well but quite as well as I had originally planned. About 80% of the monsters on the floor had already been killed by now and it came down to who would be able to hunt down those that remained. Most importantly however it seemed that half of the griffins were still alive somehow, simply flying above and choosing not to engage. If I could get two of them I’d be pleased but it wouldn’t be easy.
Goldmancer seems just as crafty as her father. Despite being almost as foreign to our classmates as I am, and I just forced my way into the class and among my peers a few weeks before school started, she had managed to leverage her money to buy off two of the outer circle from Steelblade. They weren’t helping her by any means but they weren’t dragging her back either.
She would certainly not be in the top three when the points would be tallied up at the end of this round. Usually this would mean that me and Steelblade would take a wider margin but I never expected she would split up from Manashaper in this first round. With a full team on her side she even snatched a few groups from right under my nose.
Despite it being Goldmancer’s entourage and her family name backing the group, her and Manashaper had a big trump card for this little competition. Both of their names were high enough that either of them winning would count as a win for them, this meant that me and Benedict couldn’t let our guard down just in case they decided that Manashaper would be their representative.
“Your Highness, are you okay?” Johnson asked.
I recognised the wariness in his voice was because of the smile I sported despite our position not being as good as it could be. Johnson was smart enough to realize that Goldmancer was most likely to come out ahead after this round even if me and Steelblade would be number one and two when the points were counted up.
Then again how could I now smile, this was exactly why I had chosen to join this class : The challenge, the opposition, I would actually have to work to win. I still remember my uncle as he reminisced about his days in the academy and how he had to go head to head with the Silvertongues and the Steelblade heirs of his time.
“I am just fine.” I assured him. “Let's head for the caves. I’m sure there have to be quite a few kobolds we can find if we go and explore them. Who knows maybe we might even end up finding a griffin nest in the caves near the top.”
The moment we engaged the kobolds inside the mine I did my job to hold their warriors in place and give our mages time to wipe them out. These kobolds weren’t all that bright, their moves were easy to read and with a well placed shield you could deflect their blows and unbalance them. After that getting a good hit in or knocking them into their allies was easy in the narrow corridors of the mine.
Going through the mine ended up being even better than we expected with the way things were going. I would only need one of the remaining five griffins to set the foundation for a good start.
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“I hear fighting up ahead.” our scout said.
“Let’s go, I want to see who we’re competing with.” I knew we wouldn’t be the only team in the tunnels. With most of the beasts in the forest cleared out everyone would head for the tunnels, especially since the outside patrols had also been taken out so the change of getting attack from in front and behind was low, almost impossible if at least three teams entered at the same time.
“You’re just late to the party.” A friendly bubbly voice called out as we reached the other group.
The fight was already over and most of the people were already collecting the spoils and proof of kill from the corpses. Manashaper gave me a quick wave before focusing back and cutting the left ear off a kobold.
“Oh well, maybe you won’t make it to the next one.” I fired back. I couldn’t tell with Manashaper, by now almost everyone who has been to at least five big events in the last two years in the capital knew that the girl had two sides to her. The bubbly, fun-loving sweet girl, and the mischievous schemer that held grudges like no other. Still I don’t think anyone knows which one of her personalities is her true self or if she’s just a mix of the two and she chooses which side she shows.
“Your Highness, we finally found you!” a voice called out from another tunnel that led into this area.
“What are you lot doing here?” Johnson asked accusingly.
It was a good question as they were supposed to be scouring the forest so they could lead us to the final wolves and deer after we were done with the tunnels, either tomorrow or on the last day depending on how many they found.
“Steelblade has the lead.” he puffed out, everyone from that team was breathing heavily from the quick pace they took to get here. “He’s already taken out three of the five griffins.”
That statement was like a bomb as it wiped not only the playful smile from my face but also the teasing grin that Manashaper was sporting. So far each of the five teams had taken a griffin for themselves, I suspected that had something to do with Silvertongue as all of us were attacked in the middle of a fight with deer or wolves. But now Steelblade killed three more and shot himself into the lead by a good margin.
“How?” Johnson asked.
I sadly wasn’t quick enough in telling to shut up, I didn’t want to give the answer away as Manashaper also seemed to have no idea how they did it but he had already given away too much with the first word.
“The commoner!” he spat out. “He’s doing alchemy in that little cave of his and he turned some of the herbs they gathered into Bait.”
“He’s helping the Steelblades?” Manashaper asked incredulously.
“No he’s doing it for himself.” the man denied. “Apparently he worked it out with professor Silvertongue that he can take the herb we gather and mark us the points we should receive for them. After that he crafts Bait with them and we can use those points he just gave us to purchase it from him.”
“If they have Bait why didn’t they kill all the griffins?” I asked, secrecy was a lost cause at this point.
“Because they only had enough herbs for three flasks of bait, they are out in the forest gathering more now.” he puffed out.
That was all the signal we needed as both Manashaper I and both of our teams dashed down the tunnel going straight for the spot where Ajax was. From the sounds of it professor Silvertongue made sure Ajax wasn’t putting his finger on the scale with this competition but if two groups arrive at the same time he would be able to choose who to help first so we had to get there before Manashaper could. It’s a good thing I was a hybrid with stronger physical stats.
As I was running however I couldn’t help but feel that I was finding myself disliking this Ajax. It was not so much personal as I didn’t have anything against him personally. If anything I think he is the person who is closest to me in terms of raw talent.
No, what I dislike about him is the attention everybody gives him and how he got it by exploiting a cheat in the System. I didn’t know what cheat he had found, not even my father or grandfather knew and they were the King and the crown Prince. But apparently it couldn’t be used by them or me anymore. Not only that but he would make it public in a year or two at most according to the guild head of the Healing Union.
I didn’t want to end up like my uncle but from the looks of it my little brother, who doesn’t have as much talent as me will end up benefiting from this when I couldn’t and might close the gap. Not only that but both father and grandfather think I should try to befriend Ajax in hopes of having him take the spot of Ajax of the First should I ever come to rule. That spot is usually reserved for a talented mentor usually at least a century older than the king who focuses on being the strongest and they want me to focus on somebody the same age as me?
I can’t focus on that now, first let's win this contest then I will have a few free days to think over the meeting with father and grandpa.