Chapter 13

MENEESH

Meneesh watched the match with great interest. He expected much from the whelp the Lord of Flowers brought, but the boy wasn't anything special except, perhaps when they took down two of Team Shatter.

The moment August used his ability, Quann was already rushing towards where the boy would pull Shatter. That shouldn't be possible under normal circumstances. They didn't each other's abilities that well, and it was the first time the August whelp used his in a creative manner.

Instead, it was as if they made up that strategy on the spot without having to communicate with each other.

Which was more strange given that they didn't know each other before this. Their coordination was flawless, which didn't happen on the first god's damned floor between two strangers. They acted as if they'd been friends their whole lives.

He looked around. No one seemed to have noticed it. They were content talking to each other and only sparing a glance at the climbers below. This rabble on the upper floors had grown content and fat--but, well, they do have quite the purse, and Meneesh wanted to wring them dry.

"What happened?" Aeladine asked next to him.

The girl was young, but she had the competence and ease of a veteran which was why he hired her here. A resident from the 3rd floor before its God died and infected everything with its corpse.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"Those two did something," she said. "The Gladis boy and August."

He had hired this girl out of pity, but it seemed she was worth more than she appeared. He smiled. "Whatever do you mean?"

"It was arcane, wasn't it?" she bit her fingernails. "I saw a strand of arcane form a connection between the two of them."

"Very observant, miss Aeladine," he said, brimming with pride. "You're correct. It's unheard of for lower floor climbers to coordinate that well, much less form a Resonance."

"Resonance?" she asked.

"In the upper floors, especially with close-combat mages, coordination between teammates is more emphasized rather than individual skill. The more in sync the climbers are with each other, the better their odds of surviving. It takes years of training for two climbers to achieve resonance. But it does happen in highly specialized combat scenarios."

He studied Aeladine. Her eyes flashed a glint, her lips whispering to herself as she analyzed what he said. Then, in a flash of revelation, she spoke up. "The trials of the first floor. Specifically, the 3rd trial. Are you trying to replicate it, my lord?"

Meneesh clapped daintily. "Perfect answer," he said. "Part of the reason why I'm here is to study the effects of resonance about arcane. In many ways, it felt less like an arcane connection and more like souls reaching for each other. Souls, Aeladine. I felt it many times with my comrades. Whenever a resonance occurs, I start to feel less of myself and more... like an arm part of a larger whole. It's a delicate dance."

He turned to the match while she chewed on her discovery. August and Quann were discussing something. He leaned in to listen and was impressed by what he'd discovered an found that they were going to attempt that mysterious connection again. August informed his teammate that they had two more tries before his arcane pool was depleted, but if the staff were to take their time in removing the bodies at the end of the match, he'd be able to replenish his arcane pool.

"Aeladine, do you know the most important quality a climber must possess?"

The girl thought for a bit. "Perseverance?"

"You're half correct. But perserverance alone is the first half." He crossed his legs. "As you ascend the floors, you'll start to encounter more of them, but they all share a singular quality that most climbers lack--Monstrosity."

They targeted Alfonso who was a bigger threat. Shatter's teammate wasn't a priority any longer, having seen his teammates incapacitated and bleeding out. He wouldn't be a problem in the next round.

Shatter tried to rile him up and continue the fight, but when he stopped running to catch his breath, she cursed him. If he gave up this quickly, he wouldn't have gotten past the lower floors. What a pity.

Meneesh caught something else at the corner of his eye. It was a minute expression from the automaton Amelia P-07, and she had gripped the rails with stronger force. Ever since she saw August, she never took her eyes off of him for even a second. That was an interesting anomaly from an automaton. Was she evaluating his skills? But why him personally? They had befriended each other during the first trial, so perhaps it was something more personal.

He leaned back on his chair and pondered. She could add an interesting spice to the next round.

August and Quann tried to lock Alfonso in from the back and front. August paused, then used his ability around five meters away from Alfonso, but closer to Quann. He shot the tendrils--no, arcane ropes, out and successfully pulled the man. This would be over quickly. The ropes immediately pulled Alfonso, and Quann struck.

Except he missed by a meter and the strike was too slow. At this point, Alfonso managed to escape the ropes since the pull significantly weakened. Meneesh sighed. Perhaps he'd been expecting too much. It would be extremely difficult to perform two resonance executions in a single match. They were just whelps, after all. It was good that they decided to experiment already, but he shouldn't expect something for the foreseeable future. The only lesson he got out of this was to create more trials that involve team-based combat in the future trials.

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AUGUST

August couldn't understand what happened. They replicated what they had done before, but something felt off. When he had pulled Alfonso by Threadlock, he had a distinct feeling that Quann was going to miss, and he was right.

Quann did miss. The pull from Threadlock was swift and it happened in a fraction of a second. It would be difficult even for him to get an accurate strike. But they had done it before. What made the 2nd attempt different?

He only had a single attempt this round. Threadlock had taken too much of his arcane. "One last time," he told Quann.

Quann gave a nod.

They both ran after Alfonso. Quann took up the rear, while August attempted to intercept Alfonso directly. No words were spoken. August knew he only had one single chance of making this right, and he had to make the most of it. Alfonso didn't look like a mage. He didn't have any special abilities that made him stand out other than his relentless stamina and top speed.

August focused all his efforts on Threadlock. He felt a large percentage of his arcane be depleted until he hit the strain that usually comes with arcane deprivation. He had often given up at this point, but his master stressed the importance of pushing through. These were the safety systems in his body, his master said. He could still drain his arcane though it would mean that the backlash would be major and his body would suffer for it.

August regularly found himself pushing past the strain, past that invisible wall, and he felt that now. Arcane ropes twisted and slithered around each other in an instant, and in that same second, they shot forward like a spring, wrapping around Alfonso in a second success.

August tasted blood on his lips. His head ached and his mind split his consciousness apart. Master's training was brutal, but it was because of him that August had been able to do this now.

He dragged Alfonso back to the Threadlock hell. Quann lunged forward, but his needle weapon missed by a meter. He was still too far.

Quann surged to attack again, but August's ability dissipated, giving Alfonso the time to roll away, pick himself up, and avoid Quan.

August coughed and fell to his knee, wiping the blood off his nose. Alfonso kept getting away from him, which was frustrating, to say the least. He sniffed. Time trickled down to two and a half minutes. "Quann!" He called out. "We lost. Get some rest."

Now that Alfonso took up the majority of the time, even if they'd stolen the ball, it wouldn't matter.

How many rounds does he have left? August didn't know. He needed two more wins, the rest was irrelevant. Alfonso moved like a snake, desperate and more than willing to betray his teammates.

Alfonso looked at the clock, stopped, and sat down on the ball. They all waited for the timer to end. It didn't. It seemed content with counting down to zero. Shatter's teammate and Quann approached him. They were all catching their breaths, making each second count.

A staff approached them and gave them water flasks. "Take this time to rest, climbers," he said. "In courtesy of Lord Meneesh."

Shatter's teammate begged them to carry his teammates away but was harshly refused. The match wasn't over yet, the staff said.

August ignored that. This wasn't home, and people here play by different rules. He eagerly drank all the water and passed it back to the staff.

"How did you two do it?" Alfonso said.

August looked around to find who Alfonso was referring to, only to find himself being stared at. "What?"

"Don't play dumb," he hissed. "You and the torturer's coordinated attack. It was too fast. Were you soldiers?"

Quann and August looked at each other. August answered for him. "I don't know what happened," he said. Quann shared the same sentiment. Whatever they did, it worked once and slipped away. "We're still trying to figure that out."

"I hope you don't," Alfonso said. "I'm going to take either you or Quann."

That couldn't be good. If August wasn't picked, he'd have to force himself to win again. There had to be something he could do here to prevent that from happening.

Quann answered. "No," he said. "If you take me as a team member, I'll impale you."

August caught onto that. They didn't necessarily have to work together as a team. And this part was probably dangerous. In the next several rounds, treacheries from team members could happen. "Not me either," he said. "You'll have to take Shatter's teammate."

The man stayed silent this entire time, but he gave a nod. Alfonso sighed.

Round 4 ended. Rank 8 Alfonso won the 4th Round. You may now select a teammate.

Teammate selected: Rank 33 Prinsipes.

Round 5 will begin in one minute. Team Steelhearts, please enter the arena.

August stared at the new competitors. He ignored the two mages and settled for the automaton who was staring at him: Seven. Since the beginning of the first match, he had caught her looking in his direction. He thought it was his imagination at first, but even now, she didn't look away.

Should they even bring that up? They didn't even know each other for more than a week. She was practically a stranger.

"Do you have any arcane left for the spells?" Quann asked next to him.

August nodded. "Around two uses."

Quann spun to him. "What? Your ears were bleeding."

August smiled. "Said by the man who tortured his opponents to bleed out. I thought you'd kill them."

Quann scoffed. "It takes skill to wound someone without killing them. And I'm showing mercy to these climbers, but they don't seem to see it that way. Yes, I might enjoy a bit of it, but that's why we have medical staff on standby."

They talked about what they planned to do in the next several rounds. But August didn't have the patience nor the stamina for that. He could stretch himself that far but he was already paying the price for straining his arcane. He told Quann they would have to finish this in 2 rounds.

Quann scratched his neck. "And what of our strategy?"

"We have four enemies, with Alfonso and Seven being agile runners, two mages on Seven's team, and a normal guy on Alfonso's. I can take on the mages by myself, but no one can get close to you or they'll get the pointy end of your needle treatment. We steal the ball, you hold onto it, and I'll be your shield."

"Wonderful."

The timer started. This time, August jogged to the tower, but this time, he was going to steal the ball from the team rather than take it. Then his eyes caught Seven who dashed toward the tower and climbed the entirety of it in just a few seconds, leaving Alfonso in the dust.

In a few blinks, she was already on the top, looking down at him. He licked his lips. She was going to be more dangerous than he thought. "Alfonso, temporary truce!" He called out. "Take the ball, I'll handle her teammates."

"I'm not falling for your crap, rank 2."

"Right. Feel free to take on two mages then." That silenced Alfonso, who turned to Team Steelheart, then to Seven at the top of the tower. "Just this once."

Before August could run to Team Steelheart, he saw a ball arching up in the air. It swooped down, and dropped on his hands, leaving him utterly stunned. Seven had just passed him the ball.