Kazian of the Winds guided them to the Fields at the edge of the woods. There waited a small crowd of Pupils and the committee of Tutors that had been in charge of supervising tonight’s events. It was composed of the Doyen, Hidrss, Tutor Milwyk as well as two Tutors Isyd wasn’t familiar with. Nearest to the Tutors awaited a Pupil that Isyd recognised as Henryk Pwom, 7th Year and 6th Opening, the Ringleader of the Hammer. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen him; they had met once or twice previously in the Atelier. The man stood out from the rest of the Pupils as he was older than the average. Henryk Pwom had a strong build, blond hair cut short and the shadow of a beard. He was a man of few words, always stoic and dedicated to his craft. People in the Atelier and in the Hammer Ring respected him for his talent as well as his seriousness.
The sun was already dipping behind the horizon, tainting the sky with a purple hue. Naeht appeared next to Isyd and fell into steps with him. As they approached, Kazian handed the inscription scroll to the Doyen. The old man went through it and smiled at reaching the bottom. Still, he didn’t seem surprised and welcomed them with a smile.
“Good evening, Young Ones!” the Doyen said. “I am pleased to welcome you and I thank you for your initiative to participate in the Tourney.”
The Paramount Ringleaders plus Isyd joined Henryk Pwom and stood to attention while Kazian of the Winds joined the rest of the Tutors standing behind the Doyen.
“The Tourney is a grand occasion to display the skills you have learned and to demonstrate to the Artystic community the talents of our future generations. It is also a chance for Pupils to meet with peers from the other Academies, to compare their talents and improve as a whole. Certainly, the recompense at the end of it all makes it all worth it as well, I humbly say…
“I suppose you all know about the Tourney as it is the reason for our presence here this evening. Therefore, without further ado, I will explain the rules of the small competition that will determine the three Rings that are allowed to participate in the Tourney and represent our Academy.”
The Doyen waived to the woods behind him.
“The competition will take place in the Fields and the forest,” he continued. “The objective is to measure your aptitudes and Artystic abilities instead of your Openings specifically. In that spirit, we wish to level the playing field among the participants. This will be done using a new [Arcane] of our making. Tutor Hidrss, if you please.”
Hidrss stepped forward and unrolled in front of them a linen bundle. It contained a dozen leather bands that held in their centre inert Blysht pieces. The crystals were small, not larger than a thumb, and loosely attached to the leather band by means of tin wires.
“Those are [Limiting Arcanes]!” the Doyen declared. “They have been set up to break down around high concentrations of Grace. Put simply, the crystal will shatter once a [Spell] above the 6th Opening is cast. This is not cumulative however, you can enchain several [Spells] below this limit and be fine, it will only break after casting a [Spell] over the limit.”
As Hidrss fastened the leather bands around their left wrist, Isyd looked intrigued at his [Arcane]. He could guess that the Blysht had been prepared with a modified version of his [Ingracing Hex] so that it only triggered after the 6th Opening, but he was curious to know how Hidrss had fixed this limit specifically. He knew that Hidrss had been busy working on a side project those past couple of days and now he could guess what it was.
Hidrss, you clever fox… Isyd mused with a smile.
“With this limit imposed on you, you will have to make use of all your skills and intelligence to face the trial ahead. You must prefer refinery and care instead of brute force. Now, about the competition! It consists of a collecting task. In the forest are hidden tokens that you must collect. They are protected by various challenges you must overcome. Each token is worth 3 points whereas an intact Blysht is worth 6 points. To be qualified, you must somehow total 18 points!
“Everything is allowed to gather those said points, including of course attacking each other. That being said, I would be missed not to remind you that it is a friendly competition and as such, you shall not in any circumstances endanger the life of your fellow Pupils. Any action that is deemed overboard will be severely punished. We have eyes on you, Young Ones, so behave! Finally, as a last challenge, Tutor Kazian Zenovbia here – the newest addition to our teaching staff – will also take part in the competition alongside you seven. His task will be to threaten every single one of you indiscriminately and try to slow you down and hinder you as much as possible. Any question?”
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Aaron raised his hand. “How many tokens are there?” he asked.
“A sufficient amount for sure,” the Doyen said.
It was a confusing answer. Marzena raised her hand.
“If the tokens aren’t the limiting factor, how do we decide who won?”
“I may have not been clear enough on that point, my apologies. You are against each other. The winners will be the first three Pupils who returned from the forest with their 18 points. A [Fire Spell] will illuminate the sky and announce every time one of you succeeded.”
“Is there a time limit?” Prinse asked.
“No, we shall continue until three people have returned.”
“What are we allowed to bring with us?” Söyem asked.
“Anything you wished. Since we will commence immediately, I hope you came prepared. In addition to the [Limiting Arcanes], you will be given a [Lightsphere], but that is all.”
Söyem nodded with a predatory smile on her lips.
“No more questions? Then we can begin forthwith. You will enter the forest in order of seniority, with the oldest first at an interval of five minutes. Note that at any time, you can defeat forfeit and walk out of the forest. Good luck, Young Ones!”
The order of procession was decided to be Söyem, Aaron, Jonn, Henryk, Marzena, Prinse then finally Isyd. Before entering the forest, Söyem was handed a sheathed sword by one of her Ringmembers who had come to watch the competition. She strapped to her side with ease and satisfaction before turning to face the Tutors. After Hidrss made sure that her [Limiting Arcane] was properly attached and functioning, she received the signal from the Doyen and ran downhill into the woodlands.
“Do you want me to scout ahead, Isyd?” Naeht asked him.
“No, there’s no need. Let’s keep it remotely fair,” Isyd said with a grin. “Instead, could you keep an eye on the Doyen for me? In case he tries any funny business…”
“You can count on me!”
Jadwia and Oliwer had followed them outside with the rest of the crowd but they weren’t allowed to come closer. Isyd waved at them a gesture that he meant to be reassuring. His mind was preoccupied with the fight ahead. He didn’t want to admit to Naeht but he was slightly amused by it. Also excited. It was an interesting exercise, the likes of which he never had the chance to participate in during his previous life.
His mind was going through the different possibilities. Technically speaking, there was no need to attack anyone, they could just focus on the tokens sparsely dispersed in the forest. In that sense, they only needed to collect four of them. It was also because losing your Blysht meant losing 6 points, two tokens worth, while possibly putting the opponent 6 points ahead. It may not be worth the risk!
“Young Isyd!” the Doyen called.
It was finally time for Isyd to go. Hidrss winked at him while verifying his [Limiting Arcane] before sending him on his way. Isyd mauled over the fact that he didn’t take with him his darkveil. He had suspected that it would give him an unfair advantage in this environment as the darkveil were specially designed for the Rangers of the Black Forest.
As he was to enter the cover of the woods, Isyd still pondered on the possibility of everyone only going for the tokens. It was one possible scenario amidst many but Isyd deemed it the least likely. Jozaf had emphasized that the rivalry between the Paramount Rings wasn’t to be underestimated. There was little chance that they all just ignored each other.
This led him to consider another possibility…
Isyd suddenly stopped on the pathway he had been following. His senses were perked up and he could hear the Song of the Grace all around him. Several, regular pulses quickly approached, circling around him. Isyd’s eyes narrowed as he took note of the people stepping out from behind the trees.
Marzena Tchepwa, Prinse Krovtur, Aaron Gwemb and Jonn Drago had manoeuvred as to encircle him. Their eyes were set on him.
“Hello again, Seniors…” Isyd drawled, not the least surprised.
… Indeed, another possibility was that the Ringleaders teamed up to gang up on the intruder who had dared disturb the balance in their midst!