Chapter 87

I looked at their faces. I had to choose two.

But I tried not to look at them through the lense of their successes and failures as a Sword. They were all incredibly trained and prepared for this kind of battle. I might have seemed to struggle against them endlessly, making my own training seem worthless at times, but I had been competing against the best of the best.

And I had the best of the best to choose from here. The question was, whom...

My eyes settled on Leona first. I remember the desperate way she found on the day she was eliminated. She had been wounded and badly outmatched. But, through tears, she had fought. Another might have yielded, knowing how badly outmatched they were, knowing how hopeless their situation was. And she was not that dissimilar to the girl who had beaten her. Leona was light, quick. She knew how to move.

And Zara... I remembered her leaping over the pit, almost casting her own life away for a tiny chance at success. That action might have been driven by despair, but it spoke to something else as well. An absolute determination. A recklessness to do anything to try and find a way to win. The legends and histories were full of Axes who charged to their doom for one final chance at glory.

Finally, my eyes settled on Olaf. Broad, powerful Olaf. I had crossed swords with him and understood his style. He had been the first to be ejected from the contest, dismissed by many as slow and lumbering. But Olaf wasn’t a swordsman—he was a battering ram, not a ballista. He was the epitome of what a Shield should be: steady, strong, and focused on defense.

I realized that Leona would make a good Arrow, Zara a great Axe, and Olaf was perfect for the Shield suit. I had to play this carefully. Olaf was the one I wanted most of all, but I doubted Lance or Gideon would see his true value. He had fallen to me when I was almost incapable, and they were likely to disdain him for it.

With a steady voice, I declared, "I take Zara as my Axe and Leona as my Arrow."

Both sets of eyes widened. I could see conflicted emotions on the faces of my newly chosen teammates. They had maybe not expected to be chosen so soon. I doubt either of them liked Lance. They had to know what my reputation had become, that they had just been chosen by the most powerful of the final three. But I was still the shopkeep, the commoner. I think the dishonor of fighting beside me might have been the source of the hesitation on I saw there.

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But their expressions settled. On paper, I was the best Sword left. I had won against terrible odds, and survived the unsurvivable. And the prize for victory was a Flow.

Neither Lance nor Gideon seemed surprised when I selected Zara. After Lauren and Katya, she had been the contestant to survive the longest. But my choice of Leona seemed to confuse them. Lance's lip curled in a superior smile.

Mario started blathering again. The crowd grew unruly. The people wanted to see the next selections. But Mario couldn't help himself. He rambled. While he rambled, I flexed.

Without even meaning to, I closed my eyes as I flexed my attributes. I touched on them all. I could feel the invisible muscles of CUT, SHIELD, BEAM and AGILITY all responding to me. It was POWER that felt different. Each time I tried to flex it, pushing the invisible muscle within my bones as the voice had told me, I felt like I was tapping on a dam. I could feel a torrent of something waiting on the other side. But, for now, the wall between that power and my control seemed too stout to penetrate.

Something pierced my focus. Slowly, I opened my eyes to find Mario’s red, furious face inches from mine. He had been shouting my name.

"Tiberius! Tiberius!"

I let out a breath. I turned my head, embarrassed as I realized how disconnected I had been. The people in the stands were laughing. Laughing at me and clownishness, but also at Mario and his red enraged face.

I couldn't regret the delay. Every fraction of every attribute that I could increase brought me closer to keeping this suit forever.

Mario leaned in. His voice was not amplified by the speakers as he whispered. "Is The Choosing inconveniencing you, Tiberius?"

His tone was cruel. "Just savoring your last minutes in the suit, maybe, before you leave it forever?"

I wanted to respond. I wanted to tell him that soon, I would be his Sword, and he’d have to answer to me. But I pushed the urge down, forcing myself to stay calm. Instead of responding, I simply looked past him, letting my indifference do the talking. My reaction was vinegar to him. His face darkened further as I ignored him.

Ignoring him completely, I focused on the choices that had already been made. Lance stood with Lauren, Theo, and Arthur. Gideon was with Katya, Felix, and Emilia. My breath hitched in my chest as I took in the sight. They had done it. They had actually overlooked Olaf, the most naturally gifted Shield in the entire group.

It was a mistake so glaring that I almost couldn’t believe it. I had no choice to make, Olaf was my only option. But even at that, the excitement in my voice seemed to startle the others, none more so than Olaf himself.

"I select Olaf as my Shield!"