51. You Didn't Factor in the Feuds
NAME: SEATON
SPECIES: MERFOLK
LOCATION: THE WOODLANDS, THE GREEN LINE
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ATTACK: 14
SPEED: 14
SKILL: 17
DEFENSE: 14
INSTINCT: 10
INTELLIGENCE: 14
STAMINA: 15
CALCULATED LEVEL: 24
The stat sheet flashed across the tablet screen, and the moment Isaac read “merfolk,” he got a sinking feeling in his stomach that only grew stronger when he looked up. The spear of water trembled in the air, its shape barely holding together, before its form collapsed entirely and the water rushed backwards in a long stream. It flew into the extended hand of an approaching figure, reforming back into a spear as it did so.
One of the screens shifted to focus on the man, Seaton. He had short dark blue hair and visible scales running across his skin that shifted between azure, lavender, and green in the light. Where a human’s ears would be, sharp fins fanned outwards instead. He did have legs, though, Isaac noted. He vaguely recalled that most merfolk could shift into a “land form” if they wanted to, but the kicker was that most didn’t want to. Seaton seemed to be an exception.
“Is that legal?” he found himself saying out loud as the merfolk reeled his arm back, readying to throw the spear again. “That was definitely an attack, right.”
“Eh, it wouldn’t have done any damage besides, like, splashing our poor fey there.” Fable shrugged. “If there was any real hostility, the system would’ve stopped him.”
Isaac frowned. Aster was shaking with fury, and she, too, adopted a fighting stance. Both Woodlands natives seemed to have forgotten the race entirely.
“That looks pretty hostile to me.”
“There’s a difference between feeling hostile towards someone and, like, actually attacking with hostile intent.”
Isaac paused, attempting to process the words. “That’s—“ He was cut off as Fable reached over and patted him mockingly on the head. He jerked backwards on instinct, scowling, and the other Traveler grinned.
“Don’t worry about it,” they said with a dismissive wave. “Besides dude, you can’t even fight. You’re not gonna know about shit like this, right?”
Fable was probably right about that, which annoyed Isaac to no end. He turned his attention back to the screen just in time to see Aster flip over a second spear toss, jumping so high into the air that it looked for a second like she was flying. When she reached the peak of her spin, what looked like blades of grass shot out from her hair and towards Seaton, who brought up a shield of water to block them. Behind the two, Isaac caught a flash of some of the other creatures running past and overtaking them. He groaned when neither one seemed to notice or do anything about it. Okay, so maybe his prediction hadn’t been so accurate after all.
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“There there,” Fable said with a mocking pat on his shoulder. “You didn’t factor in the feuds. Which is 100% your fault, but hey, nobody’s perfect.”
“Please do me a favor and shut up.” Isaac frowned. “Aren’t you supposed to be giving commentary?” He nodded at the microphone lying untouched on the table, and Fable raised an eyebrow.
“Do you want me to give commentary?”
“Oh god no.”
The other Traveler threw their head back and half-laughed half-snorted. Isaac ignored them as he turned away to focus on the race again. Aster and Seaton were still attempting to block each other’s way, even though that was probably unnecessary at this point, so he decided to search the screens for other familiar faces.
Igor was still at the web of branches and appeared to be methodically slicing and pushing through, expression as unchanging as ever. Isaac had to admit, he respected the man’s unwillingness to give up despite being so obviously far behind and outclassed.
He resumed scanning the screens, wondering if Sharil and Olzu had made it through. If he was going to be wrong about his bet (which it was increasingly looking like he would be), he’d rather Sharil be the one to make it to the top 3 than, like, the weird Abyss worm thing.
Isaac continued searching for the two, but paused when he noticed a somewhat familiar figure on one of the screens. He squinted and realized that no, he wasn’t going crazy. It was that one weird demon who’d been staring out the window on the subway train for what had to be several hours. Granted he looked much more “present” right now as he ran ahead in the race, but there was still a certain dazedness to the way he moved that was all too reminiscent of his state on the train.
It wasn’t the demon himself who drew Isaac’s attention the most, however, but the other people around him. Most of the participants raced neck and neck, shoving past each other and often deliberately placing themselves in front of other competitors to block their way. That wasn’t the case here, however.
The other participants, namely other demons, were giving the man a wide berth. Isaac noticed more than a few go out of their way to fly far around him, even if it meant losing time in the race. Some of the other realm inhabitants did the same, while others, like the Abyss creatures, didn’t seem to care. Isaac narrowed his eyes, wondering if there was some sort of magical effect around the demon that might explain this behavior, but he couldn’t make out anything from his current position.
A stat sheet flashed across the tablet screen, and Isaac’s eyebrows rose as he realized that this was Remus, the one with the absurdly unbalanced stat line.
“Yep, that’s another feud right there,” Fable said from beside him. Isaac turned to face them. They were resting their elbows on the table casually, but despite their laid-back gestures, Isaac didn’t miss the keenness with which they observed what was happening in the race.
A deep rumbling interrupted him before he could respond, and he whipped around just in time to see pillars of water shooting up towards the sky as the wave of competitors halted in front of what was a veritable field of geysers. Isaac hoped those didn’t cause permanent damage to the ground; he didn’t want to have to explain to Minerva why there were suddenly holes in the plains.
As the competitors slowed, Isaac was able to catch Olzu’s small form stumbling forward. He looked worse for wear (clearly the climbing hadn’t gone as well as he’d hoped) and didn’t seem to be paying much attention to his surroundings, because the moment his eyes fell on Remus, standing a few feet in front of him, the demon’s entire body stiffened and he scrambled backwards so fast he nearly tripped over himself. Soaring high above them, Sharil’s face flashed briefly across the screen, and the look of utter fury present in her solid yellow eyes as she stared down at Remus made Isaac pause.
He couldn’t remember ever seeing Sharil look so angry before. His eyes darted over to Remus again, but the demon didn’t seem to notice any of the animosity directed towards him. He simply stepped forward to dodge around the geysers.
For a second, Isaac was worried Sharil would legitimately attack the man, system be damned. His fingers gripped the edge of the table, and he watched with bated breath. The woman remained hovering where she was, that cold fury still present on her face. Her claws extended, and she slowly raised them above her head. Isaac’s eyes widened.
Despite his worry, the demon didn’t dive down or swing at Remus. Instead, Sharil inhaled, visibly forcing the line of tension drawn through every muscle to loosen up, and turned away to face the geysers. Isaac’s shoulders relaxed, and he released his grip on the table. The man exhaled and rubbed his forehead, already feeling the beginnings of a migraine. Relax and have fun, Lilith had said. Help everyone vent!
As Isaac looked down at the field, at the way half of the obstacles were made by the competitors themselves, at Seaton and Aster continuing to get in each other’s way to their own detriment, and at the aggression present in Sharil’s movements as she half-flew half-slashed her way through the pillars of water, he couldn’t help but wonder if this whole tournament would end up having the opposite effect instead.