Our group was doing well in the eastern forest. Everyone had worked hard for those flags, our clothes a mess of dirt, water, and cuts. But, as a result, the points we gathered were enough to make sure more than half of us passed. We were almost at our goal.
We were also nearing what seemed to be the center of the forest. Common sense dictates that if anywhere held richer rewards, it would be there. Of course, it was a gamble. The points might not even compare to the eastern parts. If that was the case, we could always turn back, but eventually, we’d need to pass through the center anyway. It was probably the simplest route to the exit.
But none of that left my lips. None of my thoughts reached my group. I just stood there, silent.
"Feyt? Hello?" Attila said, waving her hands before my face.
She stepped in front of me, narrowing her eyes. "What's wrong? You're being quiet all of a sudden."
I shook my head, trying to regain a sense of calm.
"S-Sorry, it's nothing... Let's go."
She gave me a look, red flags bundled tight in her grip. Thankfully, she didn’t press further. With a shrug, she turned away. "Come on, focus up! They spotted a few green flags ahead."
But I couldn't focus. I couldn't afford to do so.
Because I had encountered a formidable wall.
The one who stood before me had my hair on end. That cold, intense stare boring straight into me was enough to tell me she wasn't going to go easy on me. Fresh chapters posted on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢•𝕟𝕖𝕥
But, my eyes weren't glued to her stare, nor the wooden daggers on her. Rather, it was the yellow flags tied to her shoulders.
The implication was simple enough.
"Thirty minutes have already passed. Now, it's time for the real test," the instructor said.
So, the noises I heard from deep inside the forest were the instructors.
"As you can tell, the yellow flags are tied to us," she said, not moving a step away from her landing zone. "If you want to earn the right to leave this forest with dignity..." She slowly pulled out a dagger from her belt, her eyes narrowing. “Come and take them.”
I stood there, frozen. I kept a firm grip on my blade, already in my stance. I had expected that we would be fighting someone in this forest; they wouldn't give us training gear otherwise. But I didn't expect a challenger would come from an instructor of all people.
The others had finally caught up with me, and they all stopped in their tracks in shock as well.
"What's wrong, Lady— Wait, is that an instructor?" Eveliana muttered.
"Hey, that's a yellow flag!" Kyro's voice boomed behind me.
"T-Two of them, too!" Clarissa said.
Phil remained silent, but I could tell those four behind me were as wary as I was. But there wasn't any time to waste.
"Brandish your weapons,” I ordered, voice firm. “I don’t know all the rules here, but…” My grip tightened, stance widening. “We’re getting those flags.”
A small, almost unnoticeable smirk appeared on the instructor's face. "Good to know you're ambitious."
The brittle crunch of dead leaves marked her first step. Then, she exploded forward into a sprint.
She was coming at me head-on. She kept her dagger close to her front.
She's aiming for a quick hit!
I threw my hands forward, positioning my wooden blade to catch any frontal attacks. But before reaching me, she dropped her weight onto one foot, killing her momentum, and shifted suddenly to the side.
I reacted quickly and turned.
Our wooden blades collided with a heavy thud.
The dull thump reminded me—these weren’t real blades, just carved sticks. So what was Cornelia really after, charging me head-on? She couldn’t be trying to beat me unconscious with training gear, was she?
Thankfully, I wasn't alone.
Eveliana immediately rushed forward, and thrusts her spear which forced the instructor to give ground. But, it was devastatingly slow and uncoordinated. Even Eveliana seemed to notice it, as her face scrunched up in frustration.
Cornelia didn't block; she flowed around the attacks, her body tilting and weaving with infuriating ease. Then, with a flick of her dagger, she parried one strike, spun under Eveliana’s arms, and drove her elbow into Eveliana’s shoulder.
Eveliana stumbled back, one hand on her shoulder, the other on her mouth. She looked like she was about to vomit, even though none of Cornellia's strike was aimed at her abdomen. That was when I realized...
Damn it, you were one of the ones who indulged themselves in the cafeteria, didn't you?!
This wasn't the time to dwell on that. That was when I noticed, Cornellia's glare was kept only to me even as she dodged our attacks.
It was as if the others didn't exist to her.
Or, more precisely, she was watching them without even looking.
Clarissa didn't let her move another step towards me. "Stay back!" she shouted, and two arrows whistled through the air. One landed onto the ground at Cornelia's feet, and the other was caught easily by a free hand of hers.
That distraction was my cue. I rushed forward leaning for a strike.
She pulled out another dagger and ready to catch my strike. Instead, I let my strike sway to the side, aiming at her shoulders.
Maybe I can make that flag fall!
My strike landed, causing her to stumble for a moment. But it seemed like it hadn't bothered at all, as her hand immediately lunged for my outstretched arms, gripping it tight. She landed a strong strike to my gut, causing me to stumble back.
Kyro saw his opening. "Got you now!" he roared, rushing forward with his fist raised. But even I could tell he was too slow. Cornelia once again didn't even look at him. As he threw his punch, she dropped her weight, swept her leg out, and hooked his ankle. Kyro swayed, and she drove a punishing kick into his stomach, the air leaving his lungs as he was blown back a couple of steps.
"Ough—! I... regret eating all that meat now—!" He was on the verge of vomiting.
In just a few seconds, she had pushed all of us away and gained a comfortable distance.
Eveliana dragged herself upright, one hand gripping her shoulder, the other leaning heavily on her spear. “Ugh... We're not in a condition for a fight...” she rasped.
This, this was the trap laid in the cafeteria with its free-for-all buffet for the Gilded Track examinees. Once you ate too much, you'll slow down. So far, only Eveliana and Kyro seemed affected, both of which could've provided more to the fight. But I wasn't going to blame them or anything, not now at least.
Our weapons were wooden, hers as well. The only exception to that fact remained with Kyro with his fists. But even so, she treated every attack like it was life or death. What could she be accomplishing?
I kept my eyes locked on her eyes, her muscles, her weapon. Likewise, she seemed to be doing the same to me.
But why me? And how was she this controlled without looking at the others?
The answer was obvious, a Talent, a familiar one at that.
If true, it would make snatching those flags off her shoulders a big pain. If the others knew, we could use it to our advantage. But before I could announce my guess of her Talent, for a single moment of flicker, I saw her gaze shift. It was towards Phil, who was in the back holding our flags.
That's when I realized... the battle was just a distraction. She was aiming for—
"Watch out! She's aiming for the flags!"
That earned me a reaction; she widened her eyes, and then a more obvious smirk crept on her face.
"You're sharp," she mumbled. Then, she straightened from her battle stance. "I'm afraid you got it all wrong, however."
"I figured the heir of an Sareid would offer far more than this, but so far, you're just relying on others. How... disappointing."
Before I could retort, she moved. It wasn't an attack. She raised her free hand with her palm open. Then she mumbled, her words were foreign to my ears.
But instantly, I knew what she was doing.
A low, groaning rumble erupted from the earth. The soil in a wide circle around me and Phil liquefied, opening a large, deep hole right beneath our feet.
"What the—?!" Phil yelped.
We both sank deep, several meters deep. It was a sudden pitfall.
I landed on my back, the pain echoing even through my other self, but I had no time to groan in pain.
"Ugh—!" I quickly raised myself, not minding the dirt and mud covering my clothes and hair, and began clawing at the ground to get a grip. But the very soil around me had become slippery, as if it had basked under the rain for days.
Dammit! I can't climb out!
Behind me, Phil was trying the same thing to no avail.
Above us, Eveliana, Kyro, and Clarissa peered over the rim, faces pale with horror.
"Lady Carine!" Kyro shouted from the pit's edge.
"Don't even try." Instructor Cornelia's voice was calm, almost conversational. "That hole is a simple spell, but quite effective. They won't climb out, and you won't either if you fall."
"Then let them out!" Eveliana demanded, leveling her spear.
Cornelia glanced at her, utterly unimpressed. "Or what? You've proved yourself unworthy of our flags with your sub-standard display. Pathetic doesn't even begin to describe all of you." She let that threat hang in the air before continuing. "Point is, your friends are not getting out. Not until the time limit expires, at least. Consider her already failed this portion of the exam."
A cold silence filled the air.
She wasn't trying to test us, but utterly fail us in this exam. But why? I knew the instructors here could be harsh, but wasn't this a step further?
But then, she continued.
"But you three haven't failed just yet."
"What do you mean?" Clarissa asked.
"There are still flags out there. You have a little under half an hour left. You can stay here, staring uselessly into a hole, guaranteeing that all five of you end with zero points. Or, you can use the time you have left to salvage your own scores."
"You want us to just leave them?" Clarissa asked, her voice trembling with outrage.
"I am telling you the only logical choice," Cornelia corrected. "If you jump in, you won't be helping her; you'll only be sharing her fate. Trapped like a bunch of worms." She let a small chuckle out. "At least this way, some of you won't be greeting your parents with nothing to show for. The choice is yours."
I couldn't see their faces from down here, but I could tell everyone was considering it.
Of course they were. Cornelia’s words were painful, but they were also true. If they stayed here, all of us would be left with zero points. If they left, at least three of them could scrape together enough points to walk out with their heads held high.
We’d only come together this morning, the four of them forming a team just to garner my favor. And yet, in that short time, they had gone out of their way to help me, especially now, demanding my release. Of course, all that could be attributed to their original goal, but I wanted to believe it was something different.
Part of me wanted to demand the same thing again. To shout up at them, to tell them to stay, to not abandon me. After all, I still needed to enter Honors, I still wanted to make Mother and Father proud, and I still sought to fulfill the Third Prince's promise.
But that would be selfish.
My nails dug into the muddy wall of the pit as the decision tore at me. I wanted to believe we could still fight our way out, that together we could climb out of this trap. But the slick earth slid under my fingers, crumbling at every attempt.
"...Go," I said, my voice firm. "She's right. Forget about me. At least get some points for yourselves."
"Just go," I ordered. "Don't worry, all of you have proven your worth. We'll see each other soon after the exams."
My favor was what had drawn them to me in the first place.
The short silence was followed by small mutterings that I couldn't quite catch. Finally, one by one, they stepped closer.
Eveliana leaned over the rim, her eyes locking onto mine. "Lady Carine, we'll come back with help. I swear it."
Kyro popped his head too. "Don't get too comfortable there, okay?"
Clarissa nodded her head beside Kyro.
I knew they were empty promises, meant to assure me. But it was something at least.
They began to leave, their footsteps began to fade through the crunching leaves.
Instructor Cornelia waited until the sound of their footsteps faded completely. She then walked to the edge of the pit, looking down at me with undisguised contempt.
"A Sareid... wallowing in mud. What a disappointment," she said slowly.
I glared at her from below. She glared back from above, her look of utter disgust clear to see.
"Hmph.” She scoffed. “That look in your eyes, it’s just like his. Your father always thought he was untouchable, but he always left disappointment in his trail.” Her voice dropped, low and bitter. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, I see.”
She turned from the pit without another glance, her coat flaring behind her as her cold voice echoed down. "Enjoy your failure, Sareid. It's the only legacy your name will ever have."