The next two days were a blur of training. Aside from getting my wishes in (I’d gotten all one hundred forty points in Fantasy) , Callie and I spent the rest of the C-ranked games and all of the D-ranked preparing. I taught her what I could about techniques, and my mom came back and weighed in a few times when she was free, and she used it to push me harder to perfect my own.

It quickly became apparent that despite my talent for it, my grasp on techniques was rudimentary. I could only combine a few complimentary pieces of imagery with the Fantasy I had, but Callie had substantially more.

Over the course of the first day, she managed to create her own movement technique that she called the Shadowed Glide, which enabled her to take on shadow attributes to move without actually entering the shadows, enhancing her movement speed in normal combat by several times.

During the D-ranked games I trained for about half the day, though Callie made me take breaks to recover, reminding me that if I ran myself into the ground we’d lose anyway, and that recovery was part of training.

Finally, the day of the E-ranked games arrived, and I prepared myself to head over to the Central Location. Zeke was escorting me, and Chelsea would be going with mom, while my grandfather brought all my friends over to watch from the box. “So. You think you’re ready?” Asked my uncle lazily.

“Who the hell knows.” I laughed. “I did what I could, and if I can’t hack it…well, I’ll do my best. If I win this we can help Felicity right? You’re making preparations or whatever?”

He nodded. “I called Malachai. He has the petition prepared. He says if you can take home the gold here he’ll push it through. He has quite a few allies on the council, and even Aiden can’t just overrule them. Not that he would bother.”

“Nice to know grandpa is rooting for me.” I chuckled. “What’s he like, anyway? I’m sure you’ve met him plenty of times.”

Zeke grimaced. “Malachai is…complicated. He’s a charismatic and charming person, but under the jovial mannerisms he’s one of the coldest people I’ve ever met. Eli gets flack for being ruthless, but he doesn’t sugar coat it. Malachai…it’s not exactly that he lies about who he is, more that he doesn’t see any conflict being being genuinely friendly and doing terrible things. Long story short, he’s a scary guy. You should steer clear.”

I sighed. I’d figured it would be something like that. Given who my dad was and who had apparently been before rejoining his family… I wondered if my grandfather had pushed him toward that, or he became what he was to spite his dad. So many generations of family at odds.

We headed outside and climbed into a private shuttle. “Do you have any advice?” I asked hopefully. “I know you can’t tell me anything too specific, but if you have any general tidbits of information to share…”

Zeke paused, thinking it over. “Don’t get overwhelmed.” He said bluntly. “This is no different from any other tournament or contest you’ve been in. It might feel that way, but it’s an illusion. Ignore the audience and the stakes. Take one thing at a time. Make a plan and execute it, and you’ll be fine.”

That was good advice. I was already starting to spiral, this was a big deal, and not only did I not have backup, I’d have to fight my own sister.

We didn’t speak any more on the way to the Central Location, and when we finally arrived Zeke passed me off to a couple of employees in dark suits who led me down into the belly of the arena. When I got there, I found a crowd of other people, and a teleporter opened a portal to the actual testing grounds, which we all filed through.

Once we reached the game zone, I froze, stopping to turn in circles and examine our new location. We stood on a mountain, or at least a giant rock spire. Below us stretched an endless blue sky, with fluffy clouds peppering the infinite cerulean expanse. The mountain was festooned with buildings, each with symbols and connected by a long winding road.

“Welcome competitors!” Said the familiar voice of the announcer. “To the path of excellence! While the outsiders are being given your names and affiliations, you will begin your journey with no idea of who might be a friend or ally.”

As he spoke, a series of torches along the path began to light, leading up along the winding path to the top of the mountain. Oddly, the flames split off multiple times, showing several paths to the peak. “As you may have noted, this particular game will work differently to the two previous contests.

“Along this path are hundreds of temples. Each temple possesses a key. On the peak, there is a chest, and opening this chest requires twelve keys.” I could hear excitement in the voice as it continued on. “Where this task differs is this. You will not only be competing with each other, you will be facing powerful guardian monsters who protect the keys.”

The flames near one of the temples flared, revealing the silhouette of a hulking beast. “These guardians are of varying power, some will be weak, some will be unbearably strong. Some of the temples cannot be cleared by an individual, and so you’ll need to select a teammate, but the chest can only be opened by one, and so whoever your teammates are, you will inevitably betray them.

“The task is simple. Select your teammates, gauge their trustworthiness, and work with them until the correct time to turn away. Alliances are necessary at time, but one must always remain alert for betrayal.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

I fought not to roll my eyes. Subtle. They were clearly sowing discontent for once the war ended to prevent any of the alliances between factions from becoming too stable. Why that was I had no idea, but they were being really obvious about it. I shook off my annoyance and turned to look around, seeing if there was anyone besides Chelsea that I knew.

Several faces actually did stick out, some of my fellow Glade pact members were there, though none of the ones I knew very well. The Black Sorrow Cult representative girl that Chelsea warned me about was there, and Chelsea had a pair of girls I didn’t recognize with her.

Strolling up to my sister, I gave her a cheerful wave. “Hey, are you looking for a teammate? Because I’m available, and I have many sterling qualities. I’m witty, urbane, and I’m very tall, so I can provide shade when it’s too sunny and reach things on high shelves without needing to use a stool.”

She rolled her eyes, then opened her mouth to say something back when a blonde girl with smouldering (literally, they soaked like banked coals were behind them) golden eyes glared up at me. “Wish Curse filth!” She snapped. “Stay away from our mistress.” To my shock, a pair of downy white wings flared out behind her, and she reached down to draw a golden sword.

“Whoa!” Said Chelsea in a panic, stepping between me and the girl. “Holly, be cool. Shane is a friend of mine, he was just joking around. Shane this is Holly and Serah Hallah. They’re representatives of the Seraphim Tower. They’re a subordinate force of the Church.”

I wondered why there hadn’t been any C-rankers to help Ellisara or the others, but knowing Ascendant politics it was probably considered a sign of weakness to have someone lend aid outside of a team format. It would have made them look pathetic to try to fix the results.

Holding up both hands, I smiled disarmingly behind my mask (that kind of thing always comes out in the voice) “What she said. I was being sincere about wanting to cooperate, I was just being funny. I’m known to have a pretty great sense of humor. Also modesty, I’m very modest. Possibly the most modest man in existence.”

The other angel (if there were devils I don’t know why angels shocked me but they did) frowned at me suspiciously. “Tell us a joke.” Her eyes and hair were both copper, and not as in red, as in the metal, her hair looked like really thin soft copper wire.

“I…what?” I stumbled. “That’s not the kind of funny I mean, I meant like situationally funny.”

Serah turned to Chelsea. “I do not like him. He does not know any jokes. He isn’t amusing or modest at all, we should turn him away.”

“Come on, you totally put me on the spot!” I protested. “What kind of person just has a repertoire of jokes lying around to toss out at a moment’s notice. Real comedy is situational and topical, witty and biting observations made in the moment.”

She stared back at me coldly. “False. Comedy is tested and refined. All amusing jokes should be at the fingertips of an amusing person in an instant. For instance, why did the chicken cross the road? Answer. To get to the other side. This is comedy.” Despite her blank expression, I could sense a core of smugness in her words.

My sister pinched the bridge of her nose. “Serah, Shane was being ironic when he mentioned modesty, and hyperbolic about his comedic prowess. Serah is planning to become a comedian when she reaches D-rank.”

“I am considered the funniest angel in the tower.” She said sincerely. “I know many jokes. Perhaps, should you prove worthy, I may teach you.”

Judging by the pained look on her sister’s face, that wasn’t any more accurate than it sounded, but I certainly wouldn’t be the one to burst her bubble. Instead I just nodded meekly, and a small smile painted her face.

“So.” I said leadingly. “Which direction do you want to go? I don’t see any stable markers we can use for reference, but you can pick a direction and we’ll head that way.”

Holly, the golden haired and eyed angel (what I’d thought was blonde was a metallic burnished gold on closer study) pointed firmly to the left. “I believe this to be the best direction for us to make progress. I suspect we will meet might foes, even if SOME of us may not be able to pull our weight.” Her jab was aimed at me.

That was fair, honestly. Your average candidate was useless in situations like this, because their retainers weren’t around to help and we tended to have our stats very evenly distributed. In fact, I could see why they hadn’t picked a Wyndham for the C-rank games at all, but an adopted clan member with a more combat oriented ability. Maybe that was why I’d gotten the position for E-rank.My second ability was a unique and powerful advantage against anything my own rank or lower.

Sighing at what would probably be a long trip, I followed Holly and the others up the mountain path, we took the left of the first fork, heading for an undisturbed temple.

As we walked, I slowly prepared myself. I knew Chelsea wouldn’t turn on me, and if she was forced to later she’d at least tell me to my face before doing it. I didn’t trust the feather duster sisters not to take a potshot at my back on their own, but Chelsea was there and in charge of them, and as my twin, I had faith in her.