Chapter 49

As I raced back towards the main chamber, it occurred to me that Lance's gambit could benefit me. If I could just get this orb into my pot, then Lance could possibly eliminate the others, leaving just him and me to compete on the next day. As intimidating and impossible as it seemed to compete against just him and me, the idea of the rest of the field of contestants being removed had to improve my odds. But before any of that mattered, there was still the imposing issue of getting past him and scoring.

My heart throbbed with anticipation as I approached the main chamber, and Lance. Yes, there was fear there. He had already shown his ability to easily dominate the others, and that intimidated me. But, my powers had grown. It was still hard to reconcile myself with that reality. I was one of the contenders now. Maybe one of the top contenders. And that was why another part of me was eager to test myself, prove myself. He had had another day to train, but in some ways, that only made the prospect more exciting.

As I approached, I slowed my pace, assessing the situation. Lance's eyes locked onto me, and I could feel the intensity of his gaze. There was no way he would let me pass easily. I needed a plan, a way to outmaneuver him and get the orb into my pot without falling to his blade.

When he had stolen the orb from me earlier, he had the element of surprise; I hadn’t expected it. This time we were facing each other as equals. His increased attributes, his natural fearsomeness, these were intimidating, but I was the master of attributes. If I had had the previous day to improve as he had, then the competition would truly have been over. I would have had a lot more to show for the day than he had. That didn’t change the reality that he was the one who had had that day to grow. I wondered where his shield was at, what level his agility was.

I stood facing Lance, the tension in the air thick enough to cut with a knife. His cold smile sent chills down my spine, but I refused to show any fear. He stepped forward, eyes glinting with malice.

"You really think you can beat me, shopkeeper?" Lance said. He was acting like a stage villain. Or maybe in his own eyes, a hero. "You might have had a lucky streak, but you’re still nothing compared to me."

I rolled my shoulders and stretched my neck. I said, "I’ve seen the fear in your eyes, Lance. You know I’m catching up, and that terrifies you."

His face twisted into a sneer. "Fear you? That’s laughable. After the day of practice I had yesterday, there’s no doubt I’m the greatest now. The whole city knows it."

I shook my head, my voice steady. "That head start you have, that advantage will disappear in a day or two. I grow faster than you, and you know it. You fear it. You know that your time is short, and that’s the reason for this desperate attempt to end the Choosing early. You can’t keep up with me long term, and being a Griidlord is about the long term. What’s better for the city? A Griidlord who can grow faster than the others, gaining power decade after decade, or a spoiled brat who needs every rotten advantage he can get?"

Lance's face contorted with rage, his teeth bared. It was the first time I had ever spoken to him like this, and it was clear he was shocked. For once, I felt like I could stand up to him, that I wasn’t too cowed by his presence.

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"Try and get past me, shopkeeper," he snarled, his voice filled with venom. "See what kind of advantages you’ve got. Maybe you’ve grown your last."

We faced each other. The moment lingered as we stared each other down. His confidence, that smug grin, they chilled me. I yearned to test and prove myself, but he didn’t even see a challenge here. It was hard to face that kind of confidence without having some of it spill on you, burning your own.

Lance moved first. His sword came through the air at me, faster that I had anticipated. I moved and pulsed my SHIELD. The blow glanced from the SHIELD as I moved. Even at the angle I received it, the blow shook me badly. My SHIELD was at 1.9. A 2.0 might have made all the difference.

But I came back at him. He was surprised again this time. He had expected the impact of his CUT to stagger me worse that it had. He showed no sign of having SHIELD, but as always, his footwork and swordplay were exemplary. Each of my slashing attacks was met with a CUT that smashed my arm away from me.

He moved to the offensive again, stepping in, and stabbing at me. I leapt back. Again, I wasn’t quite fast enough, but my SHIELD took the edge off the blow and the kinetic force just pushed me further back without serious damage.

I found myself trying to use my AGILITY to help me move away from him. It caught him off guard, this was something he had clearly failed in invest in. As I dodged again and again, my feet leaving the ground, my body soaring, I watched the numbers fade and change. 0.1 became a 0.2, then 0.3. But, by the time 0.4 flashed before my eyes, I found a strange fatigue had settled over my use of the attribute and I was grounded once more.

Our swords crossed again and again. He had the upper hand, I could desperately feel the fight slipping away from me. But the smugness was gone from him. I could feel him worry, see the strain. He had never imagined that I was still this close to him.

I swung high, aiming for his head, but he ducked and slashed at my midsection. My SHIELD flared, blocking the strike, but the force of it doubled me over. Lance wasted no time. He struck me once, twice, three times, with powerful two-armed swings. The SHIELD did what it could, but each blow was like a strike from a charging bull.

If only my SHIELD was that little bit stronger, it might have made all the difference. Lance was too powerful, too skilled. He swung low, aiming for my legs. I jumped back, avoiding the strike, and countered with a thrust towards his chest. He sidestepped easily and delivered a punishing blow to my shoulder.

Sparks flew, and I felt the searing heat of his CUT. My suit smoked and sizzled. I smelled something like burning plastic. Fiery pain erupted in my body. I staggered back, my grip on the orb slipping. Lance’s smile returned as he snatched the orb from my hand and spun away from me. Before I had even regained my composure, he had dropped it into his pot.

I fell to one knee, my shoulder throbbing with pain. The crowd’s roar was a distant sound in my ears as I watched Lance stand victorious, the orb securely in his pot. I had fought well, but it wasn’t enough. He was simply too good.

I had to rise, had to endure his gaze boring into the top of my head as I got back up from the ground. The damage wasn't good, but it probably looked worse than it was. I couldn't tell how my flesh had fared beneath the skin of the suit, how impaired I would be for the rest of this day if the impairment would linger through tomorrow. But as I rose and tried to erase the thoughts and memories of the humiliation of my defeat from my mind, I looked around. There were a few corridors left that I hadn’t explored or that I hadn’t seen one of my classmates explore.

I pressed on, choosing a corridor I thought hadn’t been entered yet. Thoughts and worries about being impaired tomorrow mattered very little because right now, Lance was the true obstacle that we all faced. If I couldn't find a way to get past him, then I wouldn’t need to worry about being impaired any further. It seemed probable now that none of us would need to worry about the rest of the Choosing soon, because Lance seemed to have found an impossibly secure position.