{-Llewel-}
His portion was at the beginning. From his spot here, he could see the course he’d need to go through. From where he assumed he’d stop, he guessed he’d be able to see the finish line. He could watch the rest of them up from there.
It was a moment after everyone got into position that he heard Natharie’s voice, even if he couldn’t see her. “Your goal is simple. Take your object and bring it to the finish line before anyone else does. You cannot drop the object, nor can you try to take another’s. You will be disqualified. You cannot force another to drop theirs. Depending on the severity, you can get disqualified or banned from participating in further matches. But as long as you only care about your own business, anything else goes. You’ve got those fancy skills and equipment for a reason. I’m not going to stop you from using them. Basically, just play fair. Don’t think I won’t notice.”
She continued on with a grander tone, though it lacked true interest. “There’s a crowd out here today, so you better give them all a show! The race can officially begin… now! Go and show us what you’re capable of!”
It was obvious, when they all took the object beside them, the varying levels of skill between them. Some of them were swift yet careful—they’d had plenty of time to practice it before. Some of them just barely didn’t drop it, showing they still weren’t quite prepared. Then there was Llewel who, despite being somewhat unprepared, must’ve seemed like he was.
Quite frankly, he found the object a bit too clunky to have to carry around with him. Perhaps that just went to show how much he might have the streets of Nafrius to thank for any decent performance here.
Most of them took the most obvious routes. Llewel followed the example of a smart few by taking alternative paths, but he still stayed separate from them—he took the high road. Staying above the crowd was often the best way to avoid it.
Almost as a distraction, Natharie’s voice seemed to echo through the entire area. “It seems the rush of newbies have found themselves in quite the predicament now that they’re all packed together. Remember, no pushing, or it’s an automatic forfeit!” It was obvious she didn’t care about this as much as someone in her position should. “But there’s one newbie who’s taking a unique approach—staying on the rooftops and high places. Suppose that’s the skills of a [Master Thief] for you!”
He didn’t pay attention to who he passed or who passed him during that time; he figured all it would do is serve as a distraction. With his portion’s ending coming in sight, he slid off the building right to where Myr was.
“Be careful,” he breathed.
She enthusiastically nodded, took the object, and darted off. Some of the others around him moved somewhere else, but he didn’t mind them; he stayed there to watch her. He’d been right that it gave him the perfect view of the rest of the course.
A few that also stood to watch now upheld casual conversation, though he didn’t care for it—even if at one point they tried to make him a part of it. He was too busy keeping an eye on his sister. Most of the other teams got bigger players to take care of that part. A few could easily knock her off her feet without even trying.
Not like their size was really to their benefit.
He saw the logic behind it; apparently brute forcing their way through that section was how most players decided to deal with it. But it slowed them down, too. Which was what made Myr stand out, by either dodging them or slipping past them entirely.
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“Huh, that’s kind of impressive,” one of the players beside Llewel mumbled. They glanced over at him. “That’s the one you’re with, right?”
He nodded. “My sister.”
“It looks like we’ve got our first out of the game!” Natharie called from wherever she was. “Team Four has dropped their object! Remember that, if your team got out of the game or your section is finished, you can exit to the finish line through the door on your left. There’s no shame in losing—as long as you don’t let it stop you from trying again someday. You can see the times and dates of future matches beside the scoreboard in the lobby.”
As she was saying it, Myr reached the end of her section and passed the object onto Zetai. Both she and Reynneak were in that section and, as far as Llewel could tell, they must’ve been supposed to work together. Judging from what he could tell from the players further ahead, it took both of them in order to unlock everything they needed to move forward.
Not like that seemed to be much of a problem for them.
Some of the other groups seemed to be doing well enough due to countless hours of practice. The two of them, however, possessed some natural skill for it. While the other groups were completely focused, he was almost certain they were having a rather casual conversation.
“Another two groups are out!” Natharie announced. “Good job to all of those who made it this far. Everyone’s starting in the fourth section and a few are even starting on the fifth. It’s the final stretch! Let’s see who turns out on top!”
Reynneak—the one who was still holding on to the object at the time—passed it to Tinath at their meeting point. She started her section without a single word to any of them.
It was supposed to be a maze, albeit not one too difficult to navigate through. “Supposed to” because even its vague sense of difficulty meant little when Tinath just sent her hawk to fly above it. Llewel assumed Natharie hadn’t called it out because it could be considered using some kind of “fancy skill.” Though perhaps it was just hard to notice as a common trait to [Beast Tamer]s was their deeper connections to their animal companions. It grew no ire from the other players, either, which seemed to assure it really was within the rules.
He still hadn’t paid attention to many of the other players, even after Tinath reached the end. How many had finished before her or how many left wasn’t something he kept track of; he only acknowledged when it was almost over when Natharie said something other than commentary.
“Things are almost finished! If all of the others would make their way to their left, we can announce the winners.”
Llewel followed the others—it seemed like they were expected to know where they were going, rather than having someone guide them. They mumbled about the probable placements while they walked. He didn’t care for any of that, though was more than happy to listen to Myr as she recounted her side of it.
“One of the girls there complimented me,” she said. “I told her what I did was pretty practical. Wasn’t it? I mean, it’s better to avoid things if you can…”
He nodded and managed a small smile. “To be honest, I was surprised how much ‘experience’ we had even though we’ve never done it before…”
Reynneak and Zetai joined them soon after, but none of them said anything. When they got to the finish line, they just went to Tinath and waited for Natharie to announce the results.
“We’ve had quite the interesting lineup today,” she remarked. “Everyone surprised me with how well they did, but these three went above and beyond my expectations.”
She wandered over to the group they’d talked to before. “You’ve won first place! Really does prove that persistence is the true way to success.” They all seemed pretty excited and everyone offered some claps of congratulations. Without too much fanfare herself, however, Natharie walked to the next group—they were unfamiliar. “You’re all in second! Keep it up and I’m sure you’ll reach first eventually.” Another set of clapping then, surprisingly, she turned to the five of them. “And third goes to our newbies here! I think this is a new record—no one’s ever cleared it that quickly on their first go. Perhaps you’re all naturals?”
They got their own claps; the ones Zetai basked in, Tinath confidently accepted, and Llewel, Myr, and Reynneak taking it more nervously.
“Your prizes will be handed out shortly,” Natharie continued once all the clapping died down. “You are free to leave this area. It may take up to thirty minutes for them to appear in your party Inventory. If a daily reset happens without your rewards, please come back and contact me.”