ILIAS PAYNE
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A portal opened up right in front of the doors leading out of the lecture hall and we were instructed to step through. The portal led us back to the lobby of Base Zero.
“Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!” Erina scolded Thaddeus, hitting him for every idiot she said. “Stop drinking! It almost cost you the phase!”
“Okay, I’m sorry.”
“Sorry does not cut it!”
The portal behind me closed after Asher stepped out.
“Zwergin is a warg, isn’t he?” Chris asked rhetorically. “I don’t know what being warged into feels like, but he was definitely trying to warg into me. It gave me a headache! Did he try just because I’m a beast person? That is rude! So so rude!”
“If I may ask, how did you cheat?” Roswaal asked.
“Remember how one of the hidden proctors was placed right at the front? I focused my—wait a minute! You’re tricking me into revealing my ability!”
Roswaal giggled playfully. “It was worth a try.”
“So, it’s the six of us, huh?” Asher asked. “It would've been five if it weren’t for a loophole.”
“I didn’t see you cheating,” I said. “I thought you’d get eliminated.”
“Cheating isn’t meant to be obvious.”
“I suppose it isn’t. The five of us are already familiar with each other, so I’m afraid it’ll take you a bit to fit in.”
“I wouldn’t be worried about that, lad. I’m not looking to fit in. Just looking for company until the final phase comes around.”
As the conversations died down, Ivan appeared in front of us.
“A little under three weeks ago, this building was filled with loud and interesting characters,” he said. “Now, only six of you stand—and only half of you will become State Jynxists by the end of it all. Three days from now will be the final phase. Good luck to the six of you.”
“How’d you teleport there?” Thaddeus asked.
“I can’t teleport. I went through the portal with you and decided to show myself now. I’ll see you all in three days.” Ivan began to suck air. “Oh, and an important piece of information—the king himself, his family, and important military figures will be attending.”
His vanishing left us speechless and glancing at each other.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Chris said. “The king? That’s a big deal, right? Should we be nervous?”
“Of course we should,” Asher replied. “He’s the king after all.”
For the next three days, the building that had once housed so many of us had fallen silent. Before, the staff was struggling to attend to all our needs. Now they kept asking if there was anything they could do for us.
We balanced out preparations for the final phase and took the time to take breaks. Exercising, studying, drinking, boring parties—we did them all.
The most awkward events were the meals. Since there were only six of us left, we all sat around the same table. Everything was much of the same—though the quiet Zwergin was replaced by a quieter Asher.
The words we shared with each other were friendly and held no ill intent, but the tension between us was still high.
Only half of us would become State Jynxists after all.
“What do you think the final phase will be?” a sober Thaddeus asked while laying in bed and staring at the ceiling.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Erina said. “Only half of us will become State Jynxists. By the sounds of it, we’ll be doing one on one fights. We didn’t know what the first two tests were, but we do for this one. It’s almost as if they’re intentionally making things tense between us.”
“Do you think we’ll be pitted against each other?”
“There’s a way for them to go about this so that previous party members don’t fight each other. Hopefully, they do that.”
“We have to consider the other alternatives,” I told them. “It’s more than likely that we’d have to fight each other. What happens then?”
“I don’t want that to happen.” Erina stared out the window. “I know I’m the weakest out of the three of us here. So if the way things play out pits us against each other, I don’t want either of you to go easy on me. I won’t forgive you if you do.”
“Same here,” Thaddeus said. “Go all out on me.”
I sighed. “The people behind the exam are truly cruel.”
This might be the last time we’d spend with each other.
I was unsure of Thaddeus and Erina at first, but I’ve grown fond of their idiosyncrasies. More time to spend with the two people I’ve shared the same hurdles with would be nice, but whatever we had now was all we were going to get.
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The exam was designed so that befriending others would give you an advantage. Yet it’s ending with us going against the very people we’ve befriended.
I loathed the idea of fighting Thaddeus and Erina. Since I knew what their arsenal of skills was, I’d have a higher chance of winning against them. But we’d grown close that winning a battle against them wouldn’t feel right.
I’d befriended Roswaal and Chris too but since we were on different teams, there was more distance between us. I knew what Roswaal was capable of, but he was a Familiar User and his ability to control smoke was rather powerful. I still had no idea what Chris’ abilities were, but since she was a beast person, her senses were going to be heightened either way.
And then there was Asher. He was the most mysterious out of anyone of us which meant that fighting him would be the easiest emotionally. But he gave us useful advice which meant he was more experienced. That mixed with his unknown abilities marked him as a formidable opponent.
No matter what way I look at it, this final phase wasn’t going to be easy.
When the day of the final phase came, breakfast fell silent. Once we were done, we were instructed to gather our things and head to the lobby where we found Ivan standing by a portal with his hands behind his back.
“I hope you’ve gathered everything,” he said. “We won’t be coming back here. Follow me.”
Thaddeus sucked his drink with a straw “Can I bring this? I got one last drink.”
“Sure.”
The six of us followed him through the portal and found ourselves in an open field surrounded by a forest. The field was made only of dry dirt as the grass stopped at the tree line. This was a very large bald spot.
Ivan lined us up in the order of our badge numbers.
Standing beside the portal was a skinny man with long unkempt blonde hair. He gave us each a hardened gaze. He wore light golden armour with a boar crest, a white cape, and held a boar-shaped helmet with his gloved hands.
Ivan motioned towards the boar-armoured knight. “Everyone, I’d like you to meet Gluttony. He’s been transporting us using his portals.”
Gluttony nodded. “Not a lot of finalists this year.”
“Yeah, that seems so,” the proctor agreed. “There were thirty of us when I passed.”
“There’s usually twenty-two. Either these are really talented jynxists or one of the participants sabotaged one of the phases.”
Thaddeus whistled before raising a hand. “Quick question: if you’re Gluttony, how come you’re so skinny? Shouldn’t you be fat to fit your name better?”
This kid is really good at asking questions that everyone is too uncomfortable to ask.
“I grew up on the streets starving while the rich tossed away precious food. I was malnourished which stunted my growth. Wouldn’t you say that’s good theming?”
“I suppose it does.”
The only other thing here were viewing stands—two twin rows of bleachers and a raised balcony in between. The field was surrounded by thick foliage, but towards the south was a road with stirred dust. Just then, a company of soldiers on horseback and a line of carriages approached the field and parked right behind the bleachers.
The carriages opened and a wave of people flowed out. Half of them were wearing armoured uniforms and sat on one side of the bleachers, the others were dressed with etiquette and sat on the other.
Four knights with the same style of armour as Gluttony exited from his portal. The only difference between the styles were the animal crests on each of their chest piece and helmet. They stood beside the portal, guarding it.
“Participants, I’d like to introduce you to four more of the Royal Guard,” Ivan said. “Wrath is the one with the burnt face and dragon helm. The one with the frog helmet is Greed. Pride has the lion helmet accompanied by a makeshift mane. The one with the snake helmet is Envy.”
Where’s Valentine? It’d be nice to see someone from my previous life.
“Where are Lust and Sloth?” I asked.
“The king sent them to Abbey—to investigate the re-emergence of Scar.”
I guess it isn’t time to see her yet. I’m sure there are other opportunities to meet her later on.
Ivan gestured towards the portal. “Ladies and gentlemen, King Arthereus, Queen Anne, and Prince Bradley Nelbradnt.”
Each of them came out of the portal in the order their names were called out.
“Hey, you forgot about Ser Woof!” the prince complained as his dog panted by his side.
Prince Bradley was a playful boy of six, he was skinny and neatly dressed. The fragile boy was curious and most likely never spent any time with kids his age.
“Ah! I’m sorry about that, young prince.” The chameleon turned around. “And Ser Woof.”
Accompanied by Envy and Pride, the queen and prince went ahead to the balcony. The king approached us, taking a second to inspect each of our faces.
We each took our turn to bow and greet him, “Your Grace.”
King Arthereus was a square-faced man with broad shoulders and a puffed chest. His black hair was cut to match his face. He had a short moustache and assertive eyes.
“So few participants made it to the finals this year.” His voice was calm yet authoritative. “The six of you seem promising. And, according to Karma Chameleon’s report, four of you are rookies. And three are children. Noble families and military figures are watching. So give us a good show. But no pressure. Good luck to the lot of you.” The king smiled graciously as he joined his family, the remaining members of the Royal Guard following him. “Karma Chameleon, you may continue.”
“Thank you, Your Grace,” Ivan said. “I thank you all for taking the time out of your day to witness the final phase of the seventy-third State Jynxist Exam. We started off with six hundred and ten participants this year—which is the highest number of participants yet. That number, as you can see, has been whittled down to six—the lowest number yet.” The proctor turned to us. “Finalists, introduce yourselves.”
“My name is Asher Kimblee and I’m participant 44. This is my sixth attempt at the State Jynxist Exam and I hope it’s my last.”
“I’m participant number 67 and my name is Erina Tinsel. I’d like to thank you all for taking the time out of your day to come here.”
“Hello, everybody! I’m Chris Lalatina and as you can see, I’m participant 339. I hope we can entertain you.”
“I’m participant 456 and… I’m Thaddeus Mobley! I’m going to become a State Jynxist and bring honour back to my family. Just you watch.”
“I’m participant 603, or Ilias Payne if you don’t want to call me by a number. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the names Heloise Van Astell and Ray Van Camaro. Silver and Chariot respectively. They’re my mentors. I want you to have high expectations for me because I will surpass them.”
“The name’s Roswaal Morroh and participant 610. I may be a jester, but I’m not here to joke around. Thank you all for coming.”
“Now that you know who’s who, I will now explain the rules of the final phase.” Ivan raised himself up on a pillar. “The final phase will consist of one on one fights with the pair being chosen at random. There are only three rules to pass. One; you must knock out your opponent or get them to surrender. Two; killing is prohibited and will result in disqualification. Three; if participants who aren’t fighting assist a participant who is fighting, the one getting assisted will be disqualified. Anything else goes.”
It’s exactly what we expected and feared.
“King Arthureus, there is a jar under your seat with six balls. Please pull out two.”
The king mixed the jar and pulled out two numbers. “456 and 339.”