“Good morning Holians throughout the country and beyond! I’m Nellie Ruth of Lexicon News! I’ve been chosen to be your announcer for the happenings of the 22nd division’s Cross-Zone Finals! Normally the announcer would be doing this alone, but I have two very special guests with me today! Please, introduce yourselves!”

I landed my dream job as a staff writer for my favorite newspaper, but I never thought my little stories would take me to these heights! Papa, watch over me! The tension in the room I’m in could be cut with a knife!

“Greetings. I’m Commander Milton of the BCT. I’ve heard some interesting things come out of these trainees and I must see for myself what all the ruckus is about. Forgive me for intruding.”

Former prince and Commander Milton of the BCT…when terrorism was at an all time high and the king at the time had no interest in immediate conflict resolution, in a fit of rage he revoked his right to the crown to go his own path and create the BCT. He’s a genius strategist that the common man looks up to.

“It is I! Crayton Zoltani Holia! Your king! When my older brother who is so absorbed in his work never even thought to give me the time of day, decides to see what these seedlings of his garden gets up to, I couldn’t help but see for myself!”

Crayton Z. Holia. 40th King of Holia and younger brother to the commander. When the power struggle between Holia’s royal guard and the BCT became so apparent the common man could see it, multiple polls were taken throughout the years and…

Our magnificent king lost every one of them…

Mostly because of his comments on the role of the blue-collar worker…

And his rejected proposals of a 150% sales tax on the people…

Honestly, it’s a good thing that Commander Milton stepped to the plate. The usual way legislature gets passed these days is whenever the king says something outrageous, the commander sends a heartfelt letter that’s essentially a cease and desist.

“Still bitter about the power struggle, I see—” I immediately clasped my hands over my mouth as I thought out loud one of the worst things possible.

“EXCUSE ME!? DO YOU WANT TO DIE?! I COULD HAVE YOU EXECUTED FOR THAT! IN FACT, I THINK I WILL! GUARDS!”

“That won’t be necessary, Crayton. She’ll be protected under me. Have no fear, Nellie.” Milton quelled my anxiety just as quickly as it came.

“You don’t even refer to your own flesh and blood as such anymore…how uncouth—” As he was speaking the ground below us began to rumble. “AH! Is this an earthquake?!”

“It’s the beginning of the first day of the finals! While Gaia transforms into a proper battlefield for our trainees, allow me to explain the rules!”

The first day of the Cross Zone Finals is the badge steal event. Trainees are ordered to steal badges from CTs and depending on their strength, will be allotted points. Regular CTs are 10 points, titled CTs are 50 points, and the terror crusher himself is 1,000 points. That’s right. The Terror Crusher himself is participating in this event as well as key players of the BCT. This is going to be amazing!

They’ll have an hour to do so, so if they allot their time properly they’ll have ample time to get a badge or two. However, if they don’t get any points, they’ll fail and be dropped out of the event immediately. Anyone that fails will have to repeat the recruitment course next year.

“And there it is! Gaia has transformed to reveal our setting for the titanic battle!”

Gaia has transformed the town square before us into circular hole that was a forest throughout most of the surface area except for the very middle of it, where the trainees were all standing. There were also ascending seats that anyone could walk by and sit down on to watch. Finally, there were the nosebleed seats above all of that where the two brothers and I sat. My guess was that all the CTs were scattered throughout the forest. I’m impressed with Mikan. She conceived of something like this at such a young age.

“Without further ado, let us officially begin the Cross-Zone finals in three…two…one…START!”

Arno

When Nellie’s voice echoed through the forest and signaled the start of the finals, everyone began dashing in every possible possible direction: our friends, zone three and their trainees, even zone two rushed into the heart of the forest surrounding us. A quick note that I made was that nobody used their stemata for movement. Probably because it would be a waste of the crystal’s energy to zoom around just to get somewhere quicker. They probably want to conserve their energy for their fights with the CTs. Especially for the ones with titles.

But one trainee stayed behind it all and stood firmly in this open area. It was none other than “Zone Two’s CT,” Therese Cistra. She had that usual smug look on her face as she watched everyone desperately run off for points. Despite the cost of not being a CT dangling over her head, she remained completely calm as she used her stemata to grow what could only be described as a giant trunk of a tree from the ground for her to sit on. What could she be planning?

“Arno, we’re moving too!”

“Wait, we’re working together?!” I pointed back and forth between myself and her.

“Of course we are! What are you even—” She let out an exasperated sigh and continued “I’ll explain later. Let’s just get out of here.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Got it!” I began running off due north to find and fight the first CT that I came across! That’s right! I don’t care who it is! I’ll blow past whatever comes my way!

Nellie’s voice echoed over the speakers, “What’s this!? Of all the CTs, the Terror Crusher himself comes to pay a visit to remaining trainees Arno Achebe, Ori Haustoria, and Therese Cistra!”

The Terror Crusher emerged from the shadows in his signature hulking suit of armor, his helmet glistening in the heat of the summer day. Despite the lack of emotion that his mask gave off, the aura emitting from him gave a different, more sinister vibe than the one that Ori and I were used to seeing back home.

Weird…when did I start calling Mr. Terrance’s place “home?”

Well, whatever!

“Hell yeah!” I prepared my fist for a devastating first blow.

“Hell No!” Ori immediately put up a wall of ice to block the clash between Mr. Terrance and I. And turned back in shock and was about to start complaining, but she gave me my next of orders. “Arno, up!”

“Y-yes Ma’am!” She gets scary when she’s like this…

I carried her princess style and shot up into the sky as far away from Mr. Terrance as possible. We were so high, we were on the same level as the nosebleed seats the king, Commander, and Nellie were on. I promptly waved at that but almost dropped Ori in the process…

“Don’t do that again!”

“Sorry!” I briefly apologized and asked her in the same breath what our next move was.

“You’re using a lot of energy to keep us afloat so I’ll just briefly explain the strategy I have in mind here…”

The best way to get the best bang for your Dol in this event is to apparently target the titled CTs. The average trainee is unlikely to snag more than three badges from regular CTs given the natural gap in experience. Therefore, snagging a titled CT’s badge would put someone head and shoulders above the competition.

“If that’s the case, why don’t we go after Mr. Terrance? That’d put us head, shoulders, knees and toes above everyone!”

“How do I explain this…” Ori tapped the side of her sniper while thinking.

She eventually figured out a way. It’s like we all start off with a hundred points of energy. Regular CTs would expend some, titled CTs even more, but Mr. Terrance himself…

“He’d take at least twenty times the entirety of our energy. We don’t stand a chance of taking him down in an hour.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Wow.”

Mr. Terrance is no joke. I guess that’s why terrorists fear him. He’s someone who’s strength hasn’t been contested for the entire time that he’s been a CT. He’s the pinnacle of the strength, and I admire him for that.

“So who should we go for, then? Any ideas?”

“I have one. But it’ll take a moment to find her. Especially if I’m being carried like this. I can’t scan the area as efficiently.”

“Is there any way I can help?”

“Yeah…” Ori averted her gaze.

===

“What is this?! I, Nellie Ruth, have never seen something like this in all my days as a reporter. Trainee Ori Haustoria is using Arno Achebe as a crow’s nest! A sniper mound, if you will!” I could hear Nellie’s voice echo through the forest.

“They’re using the capabilities of their stematas to help each other and get some points. Very impressive.” Commander Milton said.

“Can we commentate on anyone else?! The parasites are probably grasping at straws already!” said the king of Holia.

Ori was in a planking position with her eye down her scope while I held her by wrapping my arms around her legs and abdomen. I tried to get my flight as stable as possible so she could focus on shooting, but her breathing was growing more rapid by the second.

“Ori, are you okay?!”

“Of course I am! Just peachy! Why didn’t we just find another position for you to hold me in?! It’s a bit embarrassing…”

“Ori, I’ve never had issues with holding you! Is this a weight issue? Because if so, you have nothing to worry about. No matter how big you get, I’ll still love and care for you the same!” I said resolutely.

Ori didn’t like that answer.

She immediately turned around and started hitting me with the butt of her stemata. “Are. You. A. Fucking. Idiot?!” Each syllable was a strike she attempted to land on my head. Some, I dodged. Others, I did not.

“Then what’s the issue?!”

“NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS—oh. I found her.” Ori looked down her scope once more to confirm her target, and rolled out of my arms to plummet towards the ground.

Wait, what?

WHAT?!

“ORI!—”

“Follow my lead!” Ori rolled mid-air and straightened her body. Her stemata glowed a bright blue as she aimed it at the ground plummeting towards her. She unleashed not a singular cryoshot, but a continuous wave that created a spiral slide that she created as she descended. I immediately stopped using my stemata and slid right next to her.

“When did you learn to do this?!” I yelled to overpower the sounds of the rushing winds.

“Long story short…my stemata’s more like a wand.” She yelled back. As I tried to put together exactly what she meant by that, she briefly told me her plan A and B.

For plan A, she warned me to go in and try to take out the enemy in one hit. She said it was our best chance of taking her down. “We crossed paths with her before, so it’s only to be expected that this is the best way to handle her.” Was how she phrased it.

Based on what she was saying...our target could only be one person! It’s finally time for our rematch with Natalia Begnoll! She gave me the business the last time we fought, but now things are different! I’ve gotten stronger! I can overclock my stemata! I’ll use that to end the fight immediately!

“Blazing Soul! Overclock!”

A gold shimmer completely encompassed my white armor as red steam ejected from its crevices. The world around me warped and washed out all color and left nothing but a tinge of gold as I pushed past the ice Ori made and flew right for Natalia! I swung my fist and made contact…with a wall of small metallic spheres. This isn’t Natalia’s stemata. This is…

“Health Maiden?!”

The woman who can save any life on any battlefield. This is the person that Ori wanted us to target.

As the world returned to its natural state, the wall of spheres dispensed large tubes that they tried to shoot me with but I dodged out of the way and retreated a couple feet. Ori finally caught up and rushed to my side. As the spheres began to swarm around a specific concentrated point, the Health Maiden, Olivia Terabon revealed herself, spreading her arms in a welcoming fashion.

“Merry and Sunny missed you, Arno Achebe. Why don’t you give them a hug?”