53RD GEAR - ERICKA’S FIRST AND LAST NAVIGATING JOB
“Yaaaaaawn.”
It is a brand new day, and I found myself walking and snoozing by the beachside. The sweet breeze of the ocean brushed upon my hair, and my face bathed in the lukewarm sunlight.
It is already seven in the morning, and the third round of the Speedmage Tournament will start at eight. We won’t be able to catch the train at this rate.
“Damn, where the heck is Flu?” I groaned as I looked at my pocket watch.
It was partly my fault for having that pink-haired idiot tardy on the third day of the tournament. I approved the guild’s plan for training and practicing Flu on her maneuver and speed spells. It was supposed to end at midnight, but Ericka and Flu continued practicing this speed spell that would be our “trump card” against Amaryllis Vosconovitc.
I looked at the horizon of the beach and saw something peculiar approaching at high speeds.
Is it a boat?
Is it a ship?
No, it’s Flu!
Her pink contrail streaks are followed by splashes of seawater! She is running so fast that I thought it was a hypersonic magical jetski! And she even has this unique siren sound in a form of a cry!
“Waaaaaaah! I’m late! I’m late! I overslept! Uwaaaaaaaaah!”
Boom!
Flu managed to step on her brakes right in front of me. After a fraction of a second, the air and sand from the beach blasted to my face!
“Ah! Coach! I’m sorry I’m late!” Flu hurriedly reasoned out as she bowed apologetically and repeatedly. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
“Yeah, you overslept, right?” I said.
“Whoa!” Flu gasped. “How did you know I overslept?”
“You’ve been shouting it all along before you reached this beach,” I said.
“Ah! Tahahaha! I’m so sorry!” Flu scratched her head with a dumb smile.
I turned my back on her and then started to walk. “Let’s go, we have no time to waste. The train is departing.”
I looked again at my pocket watch and saw that it was already 7:15 AM. The train to the arena should have departed five minutes ago. Just thinking about it made my spine get chills. I stopped in my tracks and then stood stiff.
“Uwah!” Flu bumped her nozzle on my shoulder because of my sudden stop. She rubbed her nose and then tilted her head in confusion. “Um, Coach?”
“The train might have left already,” I said while sweat ran down from the side of my face.
I engulfed myself in deep thought for a second. I considered all my options, which is none by the way, except for having Flu drive me again to the arena with her speed spells. We have no choices left but to do the most desperate option.
I slowly turned to Flu who has this naive smile on her face. I know that I am about to do a horrible decision in my life, but the close-up view of her adorable face makes it all worthwhile.
“Flu… Can you use your Wind Accel for us to get to the arena on time?”
Flu’s smile widened. My goodness, this is the cutest way a horror event is made!
“I thought you’ll never ask!” Flu lent out her hand.
I think she was waiting to flaunt her skill on Wind Accel for all this time. Come to think of it, I have never taken her hand even before the joint training camp. It’s been about three months since I last had a disaster just by taking her hand. Surely she has already improved by now.
I took a deep breath to calm myself.
I reached for her hand and grabbed it tight. I just realized that a girl’s hand is so tender and delicate even with her dark gloves on. I failed to notice it during the past times we held hands because maybe I was busy being nervous and praying for gods to spare my life.
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Flu went ahead and touched her Speedmage Shoes, enchanting them with wind magic!
“Wind Accel!” Flu said with a smile. “Fluonessia, taking off!”
Swoosh!
Flu’s running is much smoother than I remember. Even her twists and turns on the road didn’t feel like my brain is going out of my skull. This Speedmage must have mastered the fundamentals of running with Accel-type spells, specifically Wind Accel.
We went through the rail tracks of the vast grassland, then to rivers full of monsters, and finally to the Central Capitol where the Speedmage Tournament is held. Flu avoided the traffic by running on walls of buildings using her superspeed enhanced by Wind Accel.
“You’re getting good at this, Flu!” I praised my Speedmage.
“Tehehehe!” Flu scratched her head due to embarrassment.
However, it was too soon to speak.
When we went up to one of the buildings, several magical electric wires are obstacles to Flu’s path. Flu nonetheless rushed towards it and gracefully evaded all those live wires like an acrobat.
However, she did not account for me not being agile enough to evade those live wires!
So the moment the tip of my shoe touched those live wires, magical electricity jolted my whole body!
Zaaaaaap!
“WaaAaaaaAAAhHH fLuOoooNeSSiAAaaA yOuuuu iDiOoooooOt!” I cried like an epileptic.
It was so unfair that Flu was already on her Speedmage Suit, which means all the electric bolt was absorbed by her magical barrier. As a result, I was the only one who suffered from her idiocy!
“Ah! I’m so sorry!” Flu cried.
<>
Thankfully, I was still alive. And thankfully, we managed to enter the arena on time. After I get myself briefly healed by Flu’s entry-level healing spell, we regrouped with our guild backstage. The first thing Prez and Cruzo noticed was my spiky hairdo and my tattered clothes because of electrocution.
“What’s with that cringe hairstyle?” The useless Prez cringed and looked at me with disgust.
“Uwooooogh! That is a stylish fashion! You look a lot sharper than ever!” Cruzo cried in joy.
“This is not my hairstyle, and this is not my fashion!” I cried.
“I-I’m sorry! Coach got electrocuted because of my clumsiness.” Flu bowed over and over like a twitching caterpillar.
Ericka patted Flu’s shoulder and then smiled. “Good job, Flu!”
“E-Eh!?” Flu uttered in confusion.
“Hey!” I cried out loud. This useless president wants me to suffer!
“Anywaaaaay.” Ericka ignored my remark and turned around to change the topic. She grabbed the clipboard and showed the order of the Speed Battles to be conducted on this third day. “Your match will be the third battle for this morning. Are you ready to rumble, Flu?”
“Yes! I’m so excited to run! I promise to put up my best fight!” Flu pumped her fists.
Ericka smiled and waved her index finger. “And don’t forget the secret technique we practiced last night!”
“Right! I will slip through her like a slimy eel and touch all the Checkpoint Towers!” Flu squealed.
“Avenge me, Flu! I’m sure you can do it with your guts and determination!” Cruzo roared.
“Okay! I will put on a gutsy performance!” Flu flailed her arms all around like a kid who got overdosed on sugar.
I have this slightly bad feeling that Flu’s blazing spirit will eventually burn her down and crash with blazing glory, but that’s just me. She tends to use all her energy at once, leaving her like a withering plant at the end of the day.
“Oh, one more thing, coach.” Ericka approached me with a smile. “I have a favor to ask you.”
“I have no more sick bags.” I immediately said.
“It’s not that, you magicless dwarf!” Ericka cried, and then went back to her serious but smiling expression. “I want to be Flu’s Navigator, just this once.”
“You sure?” I asked.
“Of course!” Ericka proudly held her hips and puffed her chest. “I am the one who taught a lot of lessons to Flu last night, so I think it will be best for her to have me as her navigator.”
“If Flu is okay with it, then fine,” I said and then I turned to Flu.
“Woaaaah! Prez will be my Navigator!? This will be a good experience for me too! I’m game with it! I’m game with it!” Flu hopped up and down.
“Okay, the stage is all yours then.” I spread my hand and showed our useless president the way to my backpack, which contains the telepathic headset that is mainly used by navigators.
Ericka and Flu then smiled at each other. This picturesque scene looked like they were sisters, with Ericka being the useless older sister and Flu as the stupid younger sister. Ericka prepped the headset and then the two held hands towards the exit.
“Yaaaaaawn.”
I sat back and watched the magical TV screen that shows the events on the viewing stage and the Triangle. There, Cruzo has already opened a bag of wasabi chips for us to enjoy.
This will be a breath of fresh air for me, as I have never watched a clubmate fight a Speed Battle from this screen. I was also relieved that somebody else will be doing my navigator job. I figured it will be best for Ericka to be Flu’s navigator as they practiced a lot with their new speed spell last night.
Fweeeeeet!
The second Speed Battle has concluded, and now it is Flu’s time to shine. The TV screen showed the name and profile pictures of Fluonessia Asahime and Amaryllis Vosconovitc. Then the screen showed the viewing stage where I can see our Prez briefing with the ever so energetic Flu.
Suddenly, the commentator’s voice started talking. I was a little bit surprised because, during the Speed Battles, we could never hear any commentators talking in the arena. The commentator’s speeches can only be heard if you are watching through the magicnet or the local cable channel like this TV on backstage.
“We are now at the quarterfinals of the event, where the smiling phoenix Fluonessia Asahime of Saint Crusade Academy is against the elegant dolphin Amaryllis Vosconovitc of Vosconovitc University!”
The camera pans again closer to the viewing stage where Ericka is shown. She looked at the camera and then she held her stomach. Her face became pale blue, and she started sweating like rain.
“Oh no,” Cruzo uttered.
“Wait, it seems like Fluonessia Asahime’s Navigator is in bad shape!” The commentator said.
A chill went down my spine at that time. It was stupid of me to let Ericka do the navigating job! The pressure of the arena alone is enough for her to burst! It doesn’t matter if she’s the one competing or just doing a support role! As long as she is in front of so many people, the stress will attack her mind!
“Blargh!”
And there you have it! Our Useless Prez upchucked right on live TV!