I ended up waiting almost another three hours before it was my turn to enter the field. By that time, of course, the waiting area was almost completely empty, consisting of Matthias, Kanda, myself, and our mentors. We were forbidden to seek any more advice from our Masters and were told to wait until called. I chose to spend the time calming myself down and listening to some tunes. Kanda was drawing runes on some pieces of cloth, and Matthias was meditating.

As my name was called and I stood, I locked eyes with Kanda. He didn’t seem as hostile as before, but he definitely didn’t seem friendly. I gave him another of the classic Reaper nods, which he returned. I handed my phone and headphones over to Marisha for safe-keeping, then shifted into Reaper form. I kept my weapon out of sight, remembering Selena’s advice, and jogged out into the field.

I couldn’t be sure exactly how fast the five minutes went by, but after a while, I heard another horn blast. That was the signal that Kanda had entered the field, and was trekking out on his own. What felt like a minute after that, the horn sounded again. All apprentices were now in the field, and ready to begin.

“Apprentices!” The commentator’s voice sounded. “Every combatant has entered the field! The Chena river that surrounds the forest is the boundary, along with the gate to the field! The game will end when there is only one Apprentice undefeated! Begin!”

As expected, his call to begin launched the true challenge. We’d had no way of knowing which direction the other apprentices took when they entered the field, so they could be lying in wait anywhere. Maybe it was just my bad luck, or maybe it was a coincidence, but three of the apprentices had been hiding near me. As soon as the commentator gave the word, they jumped out of camouflage and dove straight at me.

The scythe appeared in my hands in an instant. Having spent a few hours conversing mentally with Tomas, I could actually feel his presence now. It was as if he was miles away, yet also right at my back at the same time. Either way, the time spent waiting hadn’t been in vain. I now had a new technique to play around with, and three perfect specimens to test it on.

The three apprentices gave cries of shock as my scythe appeared. Mikel had said that no Reaper ever used a scythe, so naturally, the sight would shock anyone. I’d kept it hidden for the entire event, so they could not have been prepared. But they recovered from their shock almost immediately and went on the attack. The first was holding a long sword that he jabbed at me, stepping in close to cramp my movements.

Alright, Tomas, I thought quickly. Let’s see if you’re any good.

Tomas had taught me about a few basic scythe maneuvers while we waited. I knew them only in theory, but with his help, I should be able to pull them off easily enough. And, as Selena had predicted, they weren’t all that different from staff techniques. I brought the staff end across my body to deflect the sword, then unleashed a wide swipe with the curved blade as my opponent went lurching forward. The talisman protected him from damage, of course, but he was down for the count.

Please don’t ever doubt me again, Thomas said.

The second apprentice used his own aura to try and grab me to prevent my movement. There was a faint tug at my shoulder, pulling me down and forward. I went into the movement without fighting it and rolled under the hostile aura trying to snatch me. As I came up onto one knee, I extended my body as far as it could go and slashed again with the scythe. At maximum range, the guy facing me had no chance to avoid it. Two down.

Okay, I admitted reluctantly. That wasn’t bad.

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I could hear the barest hint of a scoff in my ear from Tomas, but I ignored it. I was already standing up to dispatch the third and final apprentice of this bout, but he’d fled to safety as soon as he’d seen me wipe the other two out.

Not bad, Thomas said. While we’re alone, coat your scythe in aura.

Why?

Just trust me.

I coated my aura over the entire length of the weapon, including the long curved blade. The scythe resonated with power now, as if it had a life of its own. I got the sense that Tomas wanted me to let go of the scythe, and complied. It floated, unsupported in the air for a few seconds, before the aura dissipated and it fell to the ground.

My, you picked that up fast. Now try to retrieve it.

That wasn’t hard. I sent my aura out to scoop the weapon up, and it flew back to my hand. I could immediately see some uses for that. I’d never be unarmed for long, and I could pull off some tricky moves with it. I tossed the scythe from hand to hand, spinning it a few times like a staff. It was remarkable how similar the two weapons felt.

Alright, so you have no problem controlling it. Tomas noted, stating the obvious. Now try to throw it out in a spin, and catch it.

Catch a spinning scythe. Right. Still, I gave it a try. By throwing it as hard as I could underhanded, it flew out in a somewhat straight line. The aura coating it kept it upright and even aided the spinning motion. A blurring circle of light flew out for about twenty feet, then spun back to me like a yo-yo. It wasn’t until it was coming back that I realized I had no need to be nervous of it. My aura guided it right back into my hand, ready to strike again. The only problem was the force it had when I caught it. I was nearly spun in place.

The bushes to my left rustled, and a new face popped out. It was one of the burly guys who had been on my team for Capture the Flag. I switched the scythe to my right hand in time to slap his punch to the side. I countered with a knee to his side, creating another pulse to send him flying. Weaker than I’d meant it to be, it wasn’t enough to finish him. Luckily, the staff of my scythe slamming into his head fixed that problem.

So I’d already taken care of three, and one had run off in a direction I could memorize. Not a bad start, of course, but I felt like I could do better. I could feel Tomas getting more excited too, doubtless fueled by my own hype. I’d have to take a lot longer to get to know the guy, but he’d helped me out quite a bit so far. Now I turned to face the center of the field, just visible between the trunks of a few trees.

Alright, Tomas said in my head. Lesson’s over. Time to hunt!

We dove through the trees, and as we broke into the open, I could see four or five people there, fighting viciously. Matthias was nowhere to be seen, but Kanda was fending off two apprentices. To his left, Alec the fourth place apprentice used his aura to shock his opponent. The poor guy fell to the ground with a groan.

I was already running towards the excitement, conveniently forgetting Mikel’s instructions to avoid Kanda as long as possible, when he turned to face Alec. I tried to watch their brief fight closely, but I was distracted as something closed around my leg. Someone had been lying in wait to my right, and his aura latched around my right leg and yanked it out from under me.

I hit the ground hard, but I wasn’t injured, only winded. Another strand of aura tried to grab the hand holding my scythe, but I smacked it away. I slashed the first strand that had caught me, and the aura faded away. I heard a curse from the one who’d sent it as I sprang to my feet, but he couldn’t make it far before I got him with a well-placed kick.

I turned just in time to see Alec falling before Kanda. The Kenyan apprentice had a long spear, almost a lance in his hand. It was wickedly-sharp looking and had a few of those rune cloths tied behind the head. He turned to see me approaching just as he finished Alec, and a hard light entered his eyes. He reached forward and ripped one of the cloth strips from the weapon and crushed it in his left hand. It immediately burst into bright blue flames, and his weapon was coated in the stuff. He glared at me.

“I know what you are,” he hissed. “And you will not win.”