“Hey! Fight me!” I pointed at a CT that was walking away and he just apologetically bowed his head. “You’re Rono Ecluse, right? Sorry man. I was looking forward to fighting you, but I got my badge nabbed from right under me. That means I’m out—oh, you’re already leaving…”

I took off running in the opposite direction. After all, so much time has already passed and I have nothing to show for it! Arno and Ori already got a titled badge. Speaking of that, why didn’t I decide to team up with anyone?! In hindsight that would’ve been a way better use of my time! I can’t lose here! I can’t drop out! Because…

Dad’s watching!

===

“Are you sure, Dad? Every bit of rest counts for you!”

My father was at the end of his rope because of his condition. The doctors were surprised he even made it this far. So for him to even state that he’d be leaving the house just to see me fight meant the world to me. Even if it didn’t seem possible, I put my faith in him because…

“We made a promise, didn’t we?” He said as he looked out the window of our home with a warm smile on his face.

===

So I have to get the ball rolling here! No matter what!

“But how the hell am I supposed to do that when every regular CT lost their badges?!” I was seconds from ripping my hair out in frustration.

That’s when I noticed Derris Zi Foxtrot rounding a tree at full speed with his greatsword out…but it seemed like something else was about to run into him…wait, what is that?

“Derris watch out! You’re about to trip over some lost child!” I reached my hand out to no avail.

“Huh?!” Derris’ head darted over my way and as it did, the seemingly lost child screamed in a rather manly voice “who the hell are you callin’ a CHILLLLLLLD?!” He swung his pickaxe and as he did, Derris planted his greatsword into the ground and jumped on the pommel to brace for the attack.

However, Derris and I’s mouths were agape because of what came next. The very second the pickaxe made contact with Derris’ blade, it completely obliterated the bottom half of his weapon. It didn’t stop there though. It carried on its destructive force, tearing down trees and the like in a devastating cylinder as far as the eye could see. Only when the dust finally settled did Derris and I take time to process what the hell just happened.

“And there’s more where that came from you pretentious zone one pri—”

“That was crazy!” I ran over to the owner of the pickaxe and began fervently shaking his hand. Now that I got a good look at him. I realized he was not in fact a small child. He was a grown man with a miner’s cap and a full beard that was knotted toward the end. He was also wearing the standard CT trainee uniform, but it looks like he took some liberties and ripped the sleeves off of it. Another detail—and this is pretty much the reason I mistook him for a child—is that he is much shorter than your average man. If I had to ballpark…probably 5’0?

Regardless, this is amazing! And these two…yeah, this is exactly what we need!

“Gentlemen! I have a proposition!” I put my fists on my hips and puffed out my chest. “I’m certain that this is the perfect amount of firepower to take out a titled CT!”

Derris and the man looked at me with raised eyebrows, but Derris quickly thought about it and changed his tune. “It could be beneficial, but there’s only one problem: once we beat the CT, that’s only one titled badge and three of us.”

“Listen!” the man crossed his arms and spoke up “There’s only one way to make a temporary alliance viable if it were to happen.”

“If?! Come on, man. You probably want more points, right? Besides, you’d be surprised what teamwork could pull off!”

“I wish you both the best of luck on your journeys…” The man began to walk away.

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I guess I have no other choice but to use my secret technique…Ah yes…I haven’t used this one in a while. After all, it’s something that takes every fiber of my being to accomplish.

I jumped in front of our newly found colleague and got on all fours to bow my head as deeply as possible! Here it is! My ultimate move: Shamelessly beg until I get what I want!

“PleasePleasePleasePleasePleasePlease join us! You’re so strong and cool and handsome! I’m sure you’re the ticket to leading us to victory!”

“Rono, I’ve seen you at some pretty disgraceful moments, but this might just make the top five…” Derris shook his head in disappointment, but I ignored him. After all, all that time I spent locked up in my room would be enough to fill out top fifty! There’s no way I’m going back there!

“I know you’re giving me empty compliments to get me to help you…but they’re working! From now on, refer to me as Bossman! And I’ll help!”

“You got it, Bossman!” I gave a thumbs up as Derris sighed and shook his head. “What’s your actual name though?”

“It’s Agathor Septimbre. Don’t you ever forget it.” He pointed at Derris with his pickaxe and he sighed once again. I have the aching feeling that he’s losing years of his lifespan at the prospect of working with us.

Regardless, we ended up quickly circling back to that condition Agathor mentioned that would make our alliance beneficial.

“It’s simple: If Therese Cistra has a monopoly on all of the regular badges, we just have to alleviate ‘er of ‘er wares. You understand?”

Of course! In that case, we wouldn’t even have to go through the high risk low reward of fighting a titled CT! We could just beat Therese, take the regular badges, and divvy it up between ourselves!

“Bossman, you’re a genius!” My face lit up as I turned to face him.

“I know, I know.”

“There’s a small problem though. We have no clue where she is. If she could do something as covert as steal every regular CTs badges from right under their noses, who’s to say that she isn’t gonna hide away until the end of the event—”

A large crash could immediately be heard in the distance. The three of us might not have noticed it if the bossman didn’t make that huge divide in the landscape. It was Therese Cistra. The regular badge stealer! And she was getting chased by dozens of CTs. Some of them had the standard training pistols, others had stematas in the shape of rifles, boots, shields, and more.

“You’re gonna have to try better than that if you want to get me, fellas!” She bowed on a moving branch as it barrelled towards the three of us. This was the perfect opportunity! We’ll catch her off guard with a surprise attack! Then once she’s surprised, we can combo attack with the already attacking trainees and overpower her almost instantly. Derris flipped his half-broken sword and was about to throw it like a javelin, but I immediately stopped him.

“We’ll let bossman start us off! Go ahead, bossman!” I readied my staff and Derris followed suit by two handing his sword.

“Uh, yeah…sure…” He said as he held his pickaxe and started shaking furiously. Wait…huh?!

As the wave of destruction came barrelling towards us, I worriedly said “bossman, we’re counting on you…”

“I just hafta get a runnin’ start! Grahhhhh!” Bossman let out a warcry as he ran towards Theresa’s stampede. It was like watching two unstoppable forces collide. I believe in him. I believe in the man I just met! He’ll blast Therese Cistra away right here and now—

Tunk

I believe that when a man has flown too close to the sun and he realizes he’s screwed, he slowly closes his eyes with an accepting smile, and bears witness to the reaping that he sowed.

This…is one of those times.

This man’s pickaxe dug right into Therese’s branch, but the force just pushed him away like a ragdoll. The only thing I had the time to do as I was about to get trampled was regret my actions.

Several darts shot towards me at high speeds. They caught onto the back of my uniform and swept me off of my feet. I went flying until I was pinned to a nearby tree. While my limbs dangled aimlessly, I looked to see where the source of the quick save came from, and it was Derris of all people.

“Aren’t you the guy with some of the most experience under your belt?! Don’t just give up like that! You’re making us look bad!” Derris yelled across the stampede of trainees chasing after Therese.

“R-right! Sorry!” I collected myself and my thoughts.

He’s right. The clock’s ticking and we can’t afford to goof around or make mistakes. From this point on, we’ll change the tide of this fight!

All of a sudden, I was falling towards the ground. The darts must’ve not been able to support my weight anymore. Regardless, I aimed my staff toward the ground and extended it, then slowly shortened it as a way to safely descend to the floor. I looked over to see a trampled Bossman and said “you’re coming, right?”

“I—”

“There’s conditions for your stemata. I should’ve taken note of that! That’s completely my fault! But I believe in you, Bossman!” I held out my hand to help him up and after a moment of hesitation, he accepted.

“Right!”

I aimed my stemata at a slight slope toward the ground and told them to get in front of me and hold on. Derris said he had his own means of catching up but I refused. Simply catching up wasn’t the point. One of the central things that we’re taught as CTs is to send a message. And what greater message is there than the one I’m thinking of right now?

“I’m counting on you for this opener, Bossman!”

“Right!”

“You still don’t even know the conditions of his stemata—HOLY SHIT!” Before Derris could finish his sentence, I extended my stemata as fast as I could. The forest and everything around us turned into a blur as we flew past all the trainees. The only thing that made me think about stopping was when I saw the luminous blue flower on Therese’s wrist. In that moment, I retracted my stemata until it was the size of a regular staff. I felt some recoil as the staff ended up forcing my arm back a little. Regardless, the three of us were suspended in the air directly in front of the current owner of every regular badge.

“It’s time for a do over, Therese Cistra!” I said with a grin from ear to ear as Bossman prepared his pickaxe and Derris reached for the crown on his head.