[https://i.imgur.com/KO24wui.jpg]

Five days since their victory. Two days since preliminaries ended. One day since both the final twelve and the test of worth had been officially announced.

Nala's team was ranked tenth of the twelve.

The test of worth was to be a monster hunt.

All eligible teams would gather at the Bright Battle Arena at noon. From there they would be sent to GoldSpark Laboratory, long-abandoned and crawling with monsters. Capturing one of these monsters would not only ensure a place in the tournament, it would also add that monster to the team's roster. Thus the issue of monster selection became vital; target too powerful a monster and you risked being wiped out and losing your chance altogether, target too weak a monster and you risked suffering a disadvantage in the upcoming games.

When Nala read this announcement, when the implications of these rules became clear to her, she almost came close to thinking about smiling.

"So it's ... good?" Mist asked, from where she sat at the other end of Nala's favoured table, in the big library in battle quarter. "All this stuff, it's good for us?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Well, if you say so ... I don't get these capture rules, though, we attack a monster until it's nearly dead and that's supposed to make it like us? How does that work?"

"It doesn't matter how it works. It's the rule."

"Well, it just seems really weird and cruel to me."

"Rules are law. All we have to think about is how to use them to our advantage."

"I guess that's your area, I'm just here to fetch books and that kind of thing. Um, do you need any? Books, I mean. I could go ... um..."

Mist trailed off and hunched down into her armour, eyes fixed on the table.

"You're Nala, huh?" said one of those who had caused Mist's sudden discomfort, a human girl with messy brown hair and a straight black robe. "Ten's captain. I'm—"

"Evia."

"Yeah, that's right. Evia Mordein, in Raid Fearson's team ... you been researching us?"

"No." Nala turned, looking at Evia for the first time. "I remember you because you attacked my friend."

"Huh? That's not the kind of thing I ... oh. The goblin. Sorry about that—"

"Hell, don't apologise," said her companion, a tall young man wearing dark purple plate armour with a dragon motif, a red-orange lance worn upon his back. He smirked at Nala. "Just playing the game, right? Bet you remember me too."

"No."

"First day? Me and Raid and Bucket got you guys good, that time it was me taking out your weeny little gobbo 'friend'."

Nala's face was blank. When she spoke, her voice betrayed nothing:

"What's your name?"

"Cane Calfstrong." He looked over at Mist, who shrank back as he winked at her. "I know you remember me. Thanks for that stuff, those SparkleFlowers and that, put me over the edge to get this new armour, like it? Almost as pretty as yours."

"That was before I joined up with them," Evia said, as Mist tried to disappear inside her armour. "Not really my style, ganking weak students, as if you don't have enough problems—probably sounds hypocritical. I just reckon everything balances, eventually. Sometimes the strong lose, sometimes the weak win, but in the end it's gonna be the strong on top and the weak beneath. Of course, it's not personal." Evia glanced at Cane. "Not for me, anyway."

"So whatcha reading there, shorty?" Cane asked, leaning over Nala. "Boning up on monsters before the hunt? What are you guys gonna go for, something like a land lizard? Scar crow maybe? No? Too tough for you?"

"She won't tell you," Evia said. "Don't give away anything to the enemy. Right, Nala?"

Nala looked at Evia, then raised her head to regard Cane, and then she spoke:

"We're going to claim a behemoth."

Cane roared with laughter, only stopping when a passing librarian shushed him.

"Oh yeah RIGHT," he said, grinning harshly at Nala. "You'd piss yourself if you even SAW one."

"She's just bluffing or something," Evia said. "What's your angle, you trying to get us to go behemoth-chasing? You must really be scared of us. Don't blame you, we're not fourth-ranked by luck."

"I'm not scared," Nala said. Cane sneered in, forcing her to lean back to keep his gaze.

"Maybe you should be," he murmured, his face close to hers. "Libraries ain't safe zones, dirteater. What could you do, huh?"

Nala said nothing, just continued staring up at Cane as he glared down at her.

"Cane."

Cane glanced back at Evia—then past her, to the silver-haired and silver-armoured girl watching the scene. Her hand was resting naturally on the hilt of her sword, and there was a bored aspect to her gaze.

With a sneer Cane straightened and stepped away from Nala, rubbing his cheek before speaking again:

"Got better stuff to do than hang out with you losers. Maybe see you around GoldSpark Lab." He let out a short, superior laugh through his nose. "Later, 'Greyward'."

Evia and Cane left, and the tall silver-haired girl turned away, apparently satisfied with this outcome. Mist stared after her, some kind of longing in her eyes, then she looked down and tightened her mouth, forcing a smile as she glanced up at Nala.

"It was pretty clever saying about the behemoth," she said, loyally. "Were you trying to get them to go fight one? I guess if all the other teams got wiped out we'd win by default or something ... as long as WE get a monster ... um, so ... what ARE we going to get, Nala?"

In response Nala turned her book around, holding it open for Mist to see an illustration—it was a blocky, stylised rendition of a fearsome beast, shadow-purple in colour with a bright red mane and huge horns, something like an enormous dog, something like a giant ox, something like the kind of monster you wouldn't want to so much as glimpse, let alone try to capture—

"We need an edge," Nala said. "This will work."

Mist gaped a bit before she found her voice: "But, but, b-but that's ... that IS a behemoth! Like we saw on our monster hunt, we can't ... I mean ... of course I trust you but ... how?"

Nala was staring down at the book, at the blocky illustration of the behemoth. She spoke, five simple words:

"I will have a plan."

[https://i.imgur.com/LfV6hrJ.jpg]

It was crowded outside Bright Battle Arena, but nothing compared to what it was like inside. This was Team Nala's first official experience with the tournament, the furore surrounding and the unexpected popularity of the event.

"I, er, didn't quite expect such numbers," Praetorian said, before dipping his head and offering an apologetic smile to the halfling girl he'd just jostled. "Nobody seemed to care before, I thought this was something of, well, a non-event, for the hardcore only."

"Elene said it's because of the crystals!" Mist said, raising her voice to be heard over the chatter surrounding.

"Elene?" Praetorian asked.

"We met her on the first day! Pink hair, dark skin, from Nimbus? Why does no one remember her except me? Anyway, she said you can buy crystal sets to get the commentary even if you're not here, even if you're not in the academy, lots of people, um, 'below' are interested in the games too."

"Aha, I see. Perhaps in a few decades news of such modern innovations might reach my homeland."

Tzugakk was gazing around with wide eyes, flapping along beside Nala and keeping a tight hold on her sleeve. He said nothing, but when he caught Nala's eye he bared his pointy teeth in a smile.

"Where's Sly," Amanda muttered, as they followed Nala out of the foyer and through a long corridor. "Is he even doing this?"

"We all have to participate," Nala said, her eyes on the markings beside each door they passed. "That's a rule."

The gathering area turned out to be a rather beautiful room on the eastern side of the Arena, tall clear windows looking out on a vividly pretty garden, long couches arranged to encourage conversation, the floor dark wood, the high ceiling a crystal dome. Compared to the chaotic bustle of the foyer this room was sparsely populated, a group of elves lounging near the window, several fighter-types hovering around the buffet near the door—one of them perked up as Nala and her team entered, and in utter disregard for the subdued elegance of the room he yelled:

"Hey! You guys! Low-Tier Pride, right? Awesome, get over here, start gromping on this stuff before the others show up!"

Nala ignored the fighter, electing instead to walk over to a collection of display cases. Tzugakk followed her, while Praetorian was already sloping off to gaze winsomely at the beauty of the garden/surreptitiously perv on the elves. Mist and Amanda were left alone, and after an exchange of glances they went over to join the fighters. They were all dressed the same way—casual clothes over chain and leather armour, each of them with a long red bandanna tied around their upper arm.

"You're tenth, right?" said the one who'd first called out—he had untidy blond hair and the bristle of a lazy beard, his hooded eyes blue and friendly. "Cool, we got in at twelve, dunno how, we were all kinda like, 'Huh? How'd that happen?' when we got the thing. Oh, I'm Arbie, that's my bro Buddy, the fat dude scarfing all the pork's Knuckle and the bonehead next to him's Skull, he reeeeally doesn't want me to tell you his actual name's Herbert so, y'know, whoops!"

"Dude, you suck."

"Oh, and the skeevy guy checking you out is Dusky, but just, yeah, just ignore him, he does that to everyone."

"Yeah," Dusky said. "It's kind of my thing."

Mist smiled around at the fighters, then started. "Oh! I'm Mist, Mist Reginleif, and this is Amanda Willow, hello, it's nice to meet you all! Um ... have you ever been on a monster hunt before?"

"No way!" Arbie said. "That'd, like, require effort or something, we're just bumming our way through this thing, dunno even what kind of monster we should go for—hey Knuckle, what'd you say before? Like a 'knives' or something?"

"Dude, don't TELL them, that's not cool!"

"Nah man, they're okay—probably got something lined up, right? Everyone's all going on 'bout you guys and the stuff you do, so, y'know, whatever right? That's your captain over there, huh? The dwarf chick? Man, she looks all serious and stuff—dudes, we are in WAY over our heads here!"

This was greeted with laughter and high-fives and general 'yeah man but whatever RED TOWN FIGHTERS RULE!'-ness. While Mist and Amanda politely waited for this to finish more people came into the room—a group of fighters and healers who glanced around suspiciously before occupying a couch in a corner, and a pair of hulking half-orcs ahead of a rather dashing human wearing a feathered hat and fine silk clothes, his attire and the gleaming rapier at his side marking him as a swashbuckler. With him were two girls; on his left arm a short perky elf healer, on his right a tall serious human mage. Although the half-orcs entered first it was the swashbuckler who stepped forward then led the way, heading straight for Nala. Mist glanced at Amanda, whose dull eyes were locked on the swashbuckler, then both watched the ensuing conversation—the swashbuckler opened with a bow then began talking animatedly, the half-orcs behind him, the girls off to one side. Nala gazed up at him as he talked, blank expression unchanging. This went on for near a minute before the swashbuckler stopped, and Nala said something—just one word, perhaps yes, perhaps no, perhaps something else.

From where Mist and Amanda were watching they couldn't see the swashbuckler's face, not until he turned and stalked back to his team, brooding dissatisfaction in his every motion.

Meanwhile two more groups had entered, a party of fighter-types with a cleric leading, his dark eyes taking in everyone in the room before he directed his team to an unoccupied couch, and a group of human girls, four of them, perhaps all sisters, who spotted Mist and Amanda and immediately bubbled over.

"Hello!" said the one in front, who had blue eyes and curly red hair and freckles—just like the other three with her. "I'm Reet, this is Robin and Rosalia and Rena, healer-cleric-thaumaturge-eyeseer, you guys are Mist and Amanda, right? With Ten? Nala's team? We've listened to your match like a million times, you guys are amazing."

"Thanks?" said Mist.

"Um, where's your sniper?" Robin asked.

"Is he hot?" Rosalia added. "I looooove the way he called his attack, 'SCATTERSHOT', I made Rena play that bit like a billion times, did it hurt when he, y'know, 'pierced' you? Or did it feel reeeeally good?"

This to Amanda, who reacted by doing a very good impression of someone who had no idea how to react. Eventually she found her voice, such as it was, and managed to say:

"I, uh ... aaaarrooow ... baaaaaad..."

"Oops, sorry, I forgot she's a zombie—"

"OH MY GODS CHARLES SILVERBLADE IS STANDING RIGHT THERE!" squealed Rena, and at once the girls gaggled off to squee all over the swashbuckler.

Amanda let out a rattly breath.

"First time I've been happy to be dead," she muttered, and Mist patted her arm.

"Getting busy in here, huh?" Arbie said—he and his team had been off comparing weapons with the other fighter-types in the room, but now they were back at the food table. "Pretty awesome, just being here. You guys ever hear of Red Town?"

Mist shook her head and Amanda shrugged.

"Yeah exactly. Me and my guys, we were doing the whole unlicensed adventurer thing, going through non-guild dungeons and stuff, you know the deal. Uh, that's before we came here, I mean. So anyway, we thought we were pretty hot, I mean we ain't bad, we got here, right? Yeah, but, you try getting any kind of, y'know, not even respect, just, like, recognition or something, I dunno, wherever we went everyone was all like 'the hell is Red Town?', just like all judging and stuff. Here, though ... this place is awesome. All you gotta do is be good at stuff, and good stuff happens. Oh, DUDE! SKULLBERT! Don't put your head in the punch bowl bro, that is grody!"

Across the room, Praetorian had made a surprising discovery.

"Slythaneile!"

Sly grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, hey. Kind of came with those guys." He jerked a thumb at the group of elves. "Seemed easier than meeting up with you dudes so, y'know, just went with it."

"Hm, well, I can't say that I blame you—would you like a drink? I seem to have collected two cups."

"Oh dude, not PureWater?"

"Ahaha, thankfully no, simple fruit punch with a rather pleasant fizz to it—worry not, this is from before the shaven-headed chap decided to dip himself in the bowl."

"Yeah, okay then."

For a time Praetorian and Sly stood by the window, sipping and watching the room—Nala was being talked at by a short human fighter with a huge sword while she continued to find interest in the display cases, Mist and Amanda were close together by the food table, seemingly amused by some secret special girl thing, while nearby a fresh group entered, the young man in front blessed with a blaze of red hair, those he led all wearing hooded robes.

"Unusual looking group," Praetorian murmured. "What do you make of them?"

"Huh? Oh, uh ... yeah, weird."

"What were you looking at? Was there something—oh dear, is that Fern? Should I hide?"

"She doesn't even remember you dude, you're safe."

"Even so I believe I'll just move to be on this side of you, all the while cursing my height and your lack of it—she wasn't here before, was she? Did she just arrive? And though this might be an ungrateful sort of thing to ask, isn't the elven team rather large?"

"Yeah, they keep a bunch of reserves, this year they're trying out a bunch of new stuff—uh, I heard."

"Hm. Yes. Rather an interesting collection they've assembled. Who's the angry-looking girl?"

"Dude, you're gonna have to be more specific."

"Aha, yes—scary-angry, next to passive-angry and across from Fern."

"Oh, yeah, Dahlia. Heh, yeah, haha."

"You laugh, Slythaneile. Why?"

"Just, if you're gonna call a girl 'angry' in the middle of that bunch of angry girls, she's the one."

"Dangerous?"

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"Psychotic."

"Mmm."

"Thought you didn't go for that type?"

"I have adapted my tastes. Although there do exist a small number of elf maidens who could be described with such pleasant adjectives as 'perky' and 'sweet', these rare creatures are far outnumbered by the likes of our wonderful friend Fern—and now ... Dahlia."

Currently the Dahlia in question was sharpening a curved knife, eyes narrowed and small mouth tight as she focused on the task. She had brown-blonde hair tied back in a loose ponytail, and her dark clothing was tightly practical.

"Mmm," Praetorian repeated. "Ah, speaking of, where has the necromancer-appreciating Lorna been hiding herself of late? Now there's a girl who seems to have found a happy balance between 'dangerously psychotic' and 'attractively giggly'."

"What, you mean like 'psychotically giggly'?"

"Ahaha, yes. Except no. Is she in the team?"

"Dahlia wanted her, but Lorna said nuh. She's not really into, like, group stuff, half the time she solos her hunts. Not a big fan of sharing."

"Hm. Dahlia is the captain?"

"Nah, that's Jak Kingfisher—over there, the ridiculously cool guy."

"Ah?"

Praetorian cast an eye over the elf team's captain. He was lounging back on a couch, arms stretched wide, autumn-blond hair streaming down over his finely-muscled chest, skin deeply tanned, face far more masculine than was typical—and yet still with a hint of that delicate elven prettiness.

"Mmm."

"Dude, him too?"

"I was prepared to be insanely jealous but, well, just look at the fellow. What class is he?"

"Bladedancer, same as Dahlia."

"Ahh ... dancer, yes."

"Bladedancer."

"Details, details."

"Dude, you're gonna get hurt. I don't mean like in a girly heart-hurt way, I mean literally stabbed in the neck."

"I have two demerits remaining, two 'lifes' left, I cannot think of a better way to spend them ... perhaps I'm acquiring a new fetish, beginning to appreciate the eroticism inherent in violence. Passion, is perhaps the word ... yes," Praetorian murmured, his eyes on Dahlia as she spoke with Jak, "a great depth of passion..."

Across the room, a dead girl was rolling her eyes.

"Just, um, just don't look at him—did you try these round things? I don't even know what they are but they're so good! Here, I made you a 'plate', I didn't really know what you wanted so I just put a bit of everything on it, that way you can—"

Amanda looked at Mist, wondering why she'd stopped so suddenly, why she was now shrinking back into her armour. Then she saw them, Raid Fearson and Cane Calfstrong and Evia Mordein and the rest of their team, the bucket-helmeted sniper known as Bucket and the portly vampire cliquemancer, Travis or Timothy or something.

"You don't have to be so scared of them," Amanda murmured, her hand on Mist's armoured shoulder. "Look, Nala's not scared."

Nala had paused in her continued inspection of the display cases to gaze at Raid and his team, and Raid was grinning back at her—he clapped his hands above his head and called out "BEHEMOTH HUNTER!", attracting the attention of much of the room as he pointed at Nala, then he laughed and went to talk to one of the fighter-healer groups, the rest of his party trailing behind.

Nala watched him for a few seconds, then turned her attention back to the display case.

"You don't have to hide," she murmured. "This is a safe zone."

"Crowds, people, this is not my safe zone," came a voice from beneath the case.

"It's not for much longer," Nala said. She looked down to meet Tzugakk's eyes. "We endure this test. We fight one more fight. And then, your dream. Your island. I promise."

Near the food table, Amanda was exploring the plate Mist had made up for her—nothing tasted like much of anything, but she was beginning to appreciate textures. Crunchy-outside soft-inside, she decided, wasn't bad.

"I'm a bit worried about Gakk," Mist said—she was sitting on the floor with her back to the wall, while Amanda leant against it beside her. "Defeats count as demerits in this thing, I hope Nala has a plan for that."

"Of course she does," Amanda mumbled, through a mouthful of soft-and-chewy. "Gakk's the only thing she cares about."

"Did she, um, did she tell you what we're targeting?"

"I don't care. It's her plan, I'll just go along with whatever."

Mist was about to say something further when her attention was caught by yet another group entering. Their leader wore shining plate armour and a blue and green kite shield upon her back, a magnificent sword at her side. Her jaw was strong and her eyes were hard, and she strode into the room as if every step was destined to be.

The fact that she couldn't have been more than four feet tall did slightly detract from her overall presence, but still Mist gazed at her with shining eyes.

"Is she ... is she a hero?"

"You don't know Jane?" It was Arbie who answered, pausing on his way past, a plate loaded with chicken in his hands. "She's a paladin, bro."

"Oh."

Amanda half-smiled at Mist's instant dulling-of-interest, although both of them watched the halfling girl as she walked further into the room, her party behind her—a sweetly pretty elven cleric who seemed vaguely familiar to Amanda, a rough possibly-human wearing a tattered old wide-brimmed hat and sturdy clothes, another halfling, probably some kind of fighter, bright-eyed and perky, and a serious human male wearing a leather vest that left his well-muscled arms exposed, the dark metal bracers he wore glowing with a faint aura.

"They look strong," Amanda murmured, before a high, imperative voice cut through all else:

"Dear gods we've got some dregs this year. Sometimes I wonder why they even bother—entertainment for the unwashed masses, I suppose."

Standing in the entrance to the gathering area was a trio of vampire girls, perfectly proportioned and flamboyantly fabulous. Violet Blaze, Amity Moon and Priscilla Belldandy, dressed in spidery black and beyond-royal purple and glittering moonsilver, Violet dark-haired and fine-featured, Amity blonde and sharp, Priscilla brunette and petite—though only short in comparison to her companions. Standing behind the trio was Storm Haven, brooding and shirtless, his glorious abs instantly caught in a battle to the death with Jak Kingfisher's magnificent pecs.

"Dahlia Knifetaunt!" Violet called, as the elf girl strode towards them. "Why, you almost look civilised, well done! Such a shame about your ... well, let's be honest, everything, but you're trying and that's not nothing, is it? It's something. Light applause for Dahlia's attempts at presentability? Anyone? No? Well perhaps you're all correct, simply trying isn't really to be rewarded. Still, ranked at number two, how very special, you must be so proud."

Dahlia's response was to punch Violet in the neck with her knife—but with the entire arena being a safe zone it never quite got there.

"Temper, temper," Violet admonished, waving a finger in the elf girl's scowling face. "We can't all be the best, can we? Never mind. I'm sure you'll enjoy brawling with these ... things, before your inevitable crushing defeat at our hands." Violet went to brush past Dahlia then stopped, leaning back to whisper in a way the whole room could hear: "By the way, Dahlia-ling, I don't mean to embarrass you but slanty little angry eyes are far from 'in' these days, you really should consider getting rid of those tired old things. I'd be happy to help remove them for you ... perhaps when we meet in the games?"

Violet traced her long-nailed fingers over Dahlia's face, never quite touching. Dahlia spoke coldly as Violet smiled prettily at her:

"You better pray one of these useless akla teams knocks you out before you get to us. Because you come up against a bladedancer, you get killed in ways no one even thought of before."

"Too late for that, I'm afraid," Violet said. "But good try, I credit you for the attempt at being intimidating."

"Watch your back, greygirl," Dahlia snarled, before turning away.

"I have Storm to do that for me—Storm, is there anything on my back? A small monkey-like creature with pointed ears, perchance? Oh, no, of course not, I can see for myself that she's knuckling away from me, the most precocious of scowls upon her unfortunate face—one would assume."

Amanda had been observing all of this with slightly raised eyebrows.

"They're actually pretty entertaining," she murmured, which earned her a light slap on the leg from Mist.

"No! They're horrible! I hate that kind of, I don't even know what to call it, I just hate it!"

"Mm, it wasn't the best of exchanges," came a voice from nearby—James Bloodspit was leaning against the wall not far from Amanda, looking as piratey as ever. "Not really evenly matched, I think that's the problem. Tall, pale and bitchy just simply outclassed short, tanned and angry." He turned to grin at the two girls. "Remember me? Of course you do, how could you forget? I'll reintroduce myself anyway, just for fun—James Bloodspit, of the Evenfall Island Bloodspits, pirate extraordinaire AT your service. I'd kiss your hands but you—" this at Amanda "—seem the sort to have a thing about 'touching' and you—" this at Mist "—are entirely too sweet to despoil in any way, even with an innocent kiss upon the hand."

"Nothing's innocent with you around," said a short human girl nearby—Summer Rain, mintmedic and seriousperson. She smiled at Amanda and Mist. "Hello. How have you two been getting on?"

"Oh," Mist said. "Um ... okay?"

"I thought Raid and his little cronies might have dropped by to intimidate you—Conrad Gaunt is here too, in with Axecore after Dunstaff dropped out."

"Uh, who?" Amanda asked.

"Axecore, Jarvis Axecore, he's the captain of the sixth-ranked team—"

"Um, I think she meant 'who's Conrad Gaunt?'," Mist said. "Since, um, that's what I'm wondering too."

"Lithe sinewy muscles, little dark glasses, rather lacking in hair," James said, looking up from the food table where he was busily stealing spoons. "Perhaps a little rough around the edges but I'm sure he has a heart of stone."

"Really? You don't remember?" Summer puffed out a breath. "He harassed you at the Blue Haven, he was in Dunstaff's team."

"Um," Mist said. "Dunstaff?"

"Mathias Dunstaff? Captain of the team you beat? In your match? Don't you keep track of these things?"

"Oh, Nala mostly does that," Mist said. "She's good at that kind of 'remembering' and 'thinking' stuff."

"Nala, yes ... I should talk to her." Summer looked over at Nala, who was frowning at a display case. "Try to smooth things over. We didn't really get off on the right foot. Are you okay here?"

"Who, us?" Amanda said. "Why do you care?"

"I ... just ... do?"

Amanda shrugged one shoulder. "It's a safe zone, so whatever. Anyway, aren't we supposed to be your enemies now or something?"

Summer was looking away. "No reason to be impolite," she muttered.

"I wasn't trying to be rude—"

"No," Summer said, "I meant no reason for ME to be impolite. Just because we're competing against you doesn't mean I can't be civil, why does everyone always get so suspicious whenever I try to be nice? I'd just like all of this to be a fair fight, a fair game, and I don't know what YOU know about previous tournaments but some pretty ugly stuff can happen, especially to non-standard teams. Don't get me wrong, I want to fight you guys more than I want to fight anyone else, I want to beat you guys into the ground, but I want to do it in a match. Fairly. So just, I don't know. I should talk to Nala, I guess."

Mist and Amanda exchanged glances, then Mist spoke:

"I, um ... maybe we are like rivals or something now, but—oh! Is that what you're doing? Are you trying to become Nala's rival?"

"I'm not trying—I'm just going to go talk to her. Good luck with the hunt, I heard you guys are trying to get a behemoth. Hm. James, leave enough spoons for other people, don't just steal them all."

"Habit of a lifetime~" James sang.

Mist watched Summer walk off towards Nala, then tried a smile at James.

"Um, where's your boyfriend?"

"Night? Oh, around somewhere, he and Summer were whispering away earlier—stealth, you know, makes it difficult to keep track of your loved ones but useful for secret things. I'm surprised your captain isn't doing the same."

"Oh ... maybe she thinks those cases are more important..."

Mist glanced over at said cases, where Summer was talking and Nala was being her usual unreadable self. She looked back at James and smiled shyly.

"Um, how did you guys meet? You and, um, Night, I mean."

"Complicated story, I'll give you the short version; I wanted a certain prize, he wanted it too, we fought, I won, we fought again, he won, we fought a third time and let's just say both of us won. Several times."

"Ooh." Mist was blushing, but also hiding a smile behind her gauntleted hand. James grinned at her.

"Look at YOU there, you little secret romantic, I think that I might have just found a new friend—what about you, tall dark and blue? Do you get off on romance?"

"Could not care less."

"Hmmph, well then, I suppose—"

Whatever James supposed was lost, as he was interrupted by a series of chimes that sliced through all other sound. When they faded they left the room in complete silence—though this was soon cut through by hard footsteps. Near the display cases a man and a woman had appeared, seemingly from nowhere. The man was tall and impressively angular; he had the delicately timeless features of an elder elf but the paleness and the style of a vampire, his robes a blend of scarlet and shadow. Through subtle magic everyone in the room knew him as Count Illyich Balgan, one of the three masters of Bright Battle Academy. Through the same magic they knew the woman with him to be another of the masters, Miss Caroline Hale, a senior watcher with the Adventurer's Guild. She wore a straightforward black suit and rimless glasses, and her light brown hair was tied back into a bushy ponytail. It was she who first spoke, standing at the central podium and addressing the room:

"Welcome, and congratulations. In ten minutes time all of you will be teleported to the outskirts of GoldSpark Laboratory. There are twelve entry points, randomised, but all could be considered safe. GoldSpark consists of three main areas; the fields you'll arrive in, the laboratory ruins, and the caves beneath these ruins. We don't recommend you enter the caves but it's your choice. Even the laboratory could prove too challenging for many of you. The only way to pass this test is to capture a monster. If your party is wiped out before this happens, or if you exceed the sixty minute time limit, your team will not be competing in this year's tournament. Defeats in this test will earn demerits. Each team captain will be assigned a CaptureRing for the duration of the test; when a monster has been sufficiently weakened the CaptureRing will automatically activate and both monster and party will be teleported back to the academy. Once a monster type has been captured it will then be off-limits for all other teams. Questions?"

"Yes."

Hale looked at Summer, who had her hand politely raised.

"Speak, Miss Rain."

"Does the team captain have to attack the monster for the CaptureRing to activate?"

"No. Any attack by any party member counts. Mr Silverblade, you have a question?"

"Yes," said the swashbuckler, lowering his hand. "Does the CaptureRing count as an accessory?"

"Yes. If the team captain already has an accessory equipped, they'll have to unequip it for the duration of this test. Additionally, there is a low-level curse on each CaptureRing; unequipping it before the end of the test will be impossible. Any attempt to remove this curse will result in instant disqualification. Miss Hearthguard, you have a question?"

"Yes." The halfling paladin Jane Hearthguard had her chin proudly raised, her voice clear as she continued: "Will any method of capture work?"

"Ah, you have a tamer in your party—yes, any method will work. Note that you will still be required to wear the CaptureRing. Miss Rain again, another query?"

"Will we be informed as to which monsters other teams have 'claimed'?"

"No." Hale smiled thinly at Summer. "You'll just have to take your chances."

"Do we at least get merits?" someone called from across the room.

"No, Mr Wildleaf," Hale said. "No merits will be awarded for any action within this test."

"Query!" came a bright voice from the corner of the room.

"Recognised," Hale replied. "Speak, Miss Dovedale."

"Okay, um, so, you keep saying 'monster type', do you mean like 'all slimes' and 'all dragons' as a 'type' or just like, once someone gets a land lizard, for instance, no one else can get a land lizard, or no one else can get, um, whatever 'type' land lizards are?"

"Technically they're dragons—and your first suggestion was correct, the restriction is on individual monster types such as 'death rattle', not monster categories such as 'aberration'."

"Yeah, question or whatever over here."

"Yes, Mr Fearson?"

Raid grinned at Hale. "Can we attack other teams?"

This attracted a few groans and dark mutterings from throughout the room, which Raid responded to with raised arms and an innocent 'hey, I'm just asking' expression. Hale waited for the noise to settle down before responding:

"No. Save that for the actual matches. GoldSpark Laboratory is effectively a safe zone, at least as far as other students are concerned. You may only attack monsters, and you may only be attacked by monsters."

"One final query."

"Miss Rain again; recognised."

"Is it possible to fail to capture a monster?" Summer cleared her throat quickly before continuing: "By which I mean, is it possible to kill a monster before it's captured?"

"Yes, it is possible. CaptureRings activate once a monster is in critical condition, but if the attack that would have put it into critical condition is strong enough to reduce its hit points to zero then no capture will occur."

"Yeah, another one over here."

"Mr Fearson."

"Just gotta get this straight, kind of confused about this whole deal. So it's when someone puts a monster into the danger zone, that's when their team gets it? We just gotta get it into critical?"

"That's correct."

"Okay, got it." Raid grinned at Hale. "Thanks."

"Um, I have another question! Oh, query I mean."

"Miss Dovedale. Recognised."

"So if we get any monster then that's it, that's the one we capture?"

"Yes. Avoiding conflict with monsters you do not wish to capture will be an important part of the test."

"Query."

Hale turned to regard Nala.

"Miss Greyward," she said. "Query recognised. Speak."

"Can any monster be captured?"

"Yes. Any monster in the GoldSpark Laboratory area is fair game ... if you can defeat it."

Nala nodded, apparently satisfied, and Hale smiled at her before looking around the room.

"No further questions? Then I'd like each team captain here in front of this podium, in order from first-ranked to twelfth-ranked. Swiftly, if you please, and unequip your accessories if you have any."

Nala quickly found her place, between Summer and a young man with blazing red hair and deep crimson eyes. While the other captains sorted themselves out Hale gave up the podium to Count Balgan—he'd rather faded into the background during Hale's question and answer session, but now he commanded instant attention, his presence undeniable.

"Well well," he said, once all the captains were properly assembled. "Rather an eclectic mix. Certainly more diverse than last year's effort. I wonder if there's a change in the air—still, some things remain constant. Violet Blaze in the number one position, hello again my dear."

Violet bowed to Count Balgan, and he acknowledged the gesture with an elegant lowering of his head.

"And young Master Kingfisher next to you, how pleasant. But enough of this. CaptureRings?"

The accessories turned out to be rather tawdry, a cheap tin band with a large clear gem, roundish and yellowish. Nala accepted hers without comment, but she heard a quiet 'thank you' from Summer.

"Equip them now, if you please."

Nala had already slipped hers on, immediately testing the curse by trying to take it off again. It wouldn't so much as budge.

"Now we also have a little bonus for you all, as is traditional," Count Balgan said. "You may have noticed these display cases arranged around the podium, each filled with a variety of gems. Beginning with the first-ranked captain and ending with the twelfth, you may each select one gem. These may be used in today's test, and kept afterwards regardless of success or failure. Violet, please select your gem."

Nala kept her head bowed as the other team captains went up one by one, most taking gems that conferred simple attack or defence bonuses—although she raised her head slightly when the halfling paladin chose hers; a LifePearl, which would prevent the owner's death once before shattering. Not so useful in a place where death did not exist, and certainly of no use in the upcoming monster hunt. Before lowering her head again Nala caught a glimpse of Mist and Amanda, Mist looking anxious, Amanda looking bored.

The next three captains chose, in order, a StrikeOpal (bonus to-hit), a FlawDiamond (small bonus to defence), and an ObsidianShadow (bonus to dodge), although Nala felt that none of these were what the captains really wanted; the rarer and more valuable gems had already gone to higher-ranked captains. Next it was the red-haired young man's turn; perhaps predictably he chose a FlareRuby (bonus fire elemental damage).

Then it was Nala's turn to select. As she walked forward she could feel the eyes of her team mates upon her, Amanda and Mist from beside the food table, Praetorian and Sly from near the window, Tzugakk from wherever he was hiding. She was also aware of the stares and muttering of others in the room, perhaps at the rarity of a dwarf in the academy, perhaps at her lack of equipment beyond default, perhaps even at her class; no other team had a rogue, and certainly not as a captain.

These mutterings only grew louder after she made her choice, going directly to the display case that held this gem, tucked away in a corner, deep green in colour and slightly greasy in feel, more a chunk of rock than anything precious-looking.

Still, she did not hesitate to select it, or to announce her choice:

"GoadStone."

Ignoring all others in the room Nala returned to her position, perhaps acknowledging Summer's raised eyebrows with the slightest of glances—then it was the mintmedic's turn. Like Nala she walked straight to the gem she'd already chosen and announced it without hesitance, although it didn't cause any kind of stir at all; FeatherShard (prevents Slow or Stop status effects). After that there was only Arbie, who ambled over to the cases and eventually came up with a StrikeOpal, the same as the sixth-ranked captain had chosen.

With that it was over, Count Balgan dismissing the captains and inviting each team to take a final few minutes to prepare before the test began. Nala stood by the display cases as one by one they vanished in regretful puffs of smoke, waiting for her team to come to her.

"Well then," Praetorian said, once he and the others had joined Nala. "Here we all are, ready to go off monster hunting. Is anyone else more than a little nervous? I fear I may have developed a complex after our last little outing—"

"Yeah, that sucked," Sly muttered.

"Quite. Even without the threat of harm from our fellow students—although quite frankly I wouldn't put it past that Raid fellow to find some way of tormenting us anyway—there are still the monsters to contend with, from all that's been said this GoldSpark Laboratory sounds far more dangerous than wherever it was we went—"

"Calamity Plateau," Nala said. "Yes, parts of GoldSpark Laboratory are more dangerous. The fields are threat level three, the laboratory ruins threat level seven, the caves beneath threat level ten."

"And I suppose it's in those caves that we'll find our monster," Praetorian said. "Those highest possible threat level caves."

"Yes. Our monster, and our means of victory." Nala looked at Amanda. "Hold out your arm."

"What? No. Why?"

"Do as Nala says, hold out your arm," Praetorian said, and Amanda immediately (if scowlingly) complied. He treated her to a rather cool smile. "Haven't you accepted this by now? If Nala tells you to do something she has a reason for it."

"Don't talk to me," Amanda growled, watching as Nala pulled something from her cloak—a simple one-slot metal bangle. "What's that for?"

Nala slipped the bangle over Amanda's bandaged wrist. "Don't take it off."

"Why, what does it do?"

"Nothing."

"Oh good, for a second I thought you were going to start talking sense."

"One minute, you eager young things!" Count Balgan called, his voice carrying easily through the room. "Best be prepared!"

The other teams were huddled in groups, talking in low tones about their plans and expectations. Nala caught Summer's eye, and the girl called out an earnest, "Good luck!"

"Good luck to you too!" Mist called back, after it became clear that Nala wasn't going to. "Keep safe!"

"Nala," Tzugakk said, from where he half-crouched behind her. "I don't know the gem you chose."

"I admit to ignorance also," Praetorian said, "although others seemed to think it an odd choice."

"Off you go then!" came Count Balgan's voice. "Do your best and for heaven's sake don't bring back a xylomid, the mess they make is appalling."

"Nala?" Tzugakk repeated. "What does your gem do?"

Nala gazed down at the lump of ugly green rock she held. It glistened in the teleportation glow that rose around her and the others, and as their pleasant surroundings faded she spoke:

"It makes monsters attack you."