Finally, the old man was speaking and Randidly walked out onto the floor with the five other representatives. The air in the ballroom was strange, as three hundred-ish bodies remained still, while five moved out to stand before the assembled statues. The air was thick with powerful images and the attention of powerful figures.

One of the moving figures was swaddled in dark grey cloth, one wore a bright orange flower, another had a pearl necklace, the fourth had a vivid purple suit, and the final one wore a light pink cape. All surreptitiously examined Randidly out of the corner of their eyes as they assumed their positions on the central tile groupings, leaving an empty space between each.

Randidly cracked his knuckles to avoid thinking about how many powerful individuals were watching him. He settled himself on his group of ninety-seven tiles. The old man placed his hand on the obelisk. “Is everyone prepared for the first pattern?”

All six participants nodded. Randidly did so with confidence.

After talking with Lady Iellaya, watching others attempt the patterns, and then trying the ‘Grand Dance’ himself, Randidly had identified three main reasons that made the process difficult. First and most obviously, without the assistance of a music track, sometimes strange tiles activated in a manner that would completely catch you by surprise.

Still, he had a natural advantage. Neveah wasn’t perfect, but she rapidly got better and better at making up this musical background. At the very least, it was an entertaining diversion.

Second, successfully triggering the glowing tiles required one to identify and release a variety of images very quickly. Randidly had noticed in the other practitioners that not only did they need to worry about their mental energy, but because most people cultivated only a single powerful image, their abilities to respond property to the image components were… lackluster, to say the least. Not that any of the required images were complicated, mostly shifting between fire, water, electricity, darkness, etc.

However, to individuals who had no experience conjuring those sorts of elements, they were often thrown. And just like the rhythm games that Randidly recalled from his college days, a single miss could start a horrible chain reaction of failure.

In terms of variety of images… Randidly’s three didn’t cover everything, but he was quite familiar with a lot of different concepts.

Finally, there was the physical component. One needed to physically move and touch the relevant tile while it was glowing. The movements were not showy, but required a profound control of the body. Honestly, after trying one of the more intermediate practice patterns, Randidly wasn’t sure whether he would have been able to manage without his tail as an extra limb to touch the tiles.

Or rather, he wasn’t sure if he could participate without a reaction so violently that his body would crush the delicate Aether apparati underneath the tile. In this regard, his monstrous Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae was extremely helpful.

Honestly, this sort of activity… is quite suited for having a bit of fun, Randidly bit back a smile.

“Begin!” The old man announced. And almost instantly, the tiles in front of the six participants.

Duunnnnnn… dunnnn…. DUUUUNNN… Dun… Neveah began to hum along with the flaring tiles and Randidly stepped forward onto the correct spaces. He flexed his toes as he triggered the first several symbols; the tiles were normally cool, but right as they were about to reach their peak, they flared with heat.

Randidly stored that information away and rapidly began to follow the lighting tiles as the speed of their arrival accelerated. His focus narrowed to the ninety-six tiles around him, his Grim Intuition tracking every shift in light and heat. As Neveah seemed to get a better grip on the cadence, her humming sped up and Randidly moved with more confidence. The few tiles that required images were easily handled by him. He even had time to notice that although the tiles that burned around the edges could be hit whenever, they flared with heat at certain points too, which he supposed demonstrated the ‘perfect’ response.

His feet flicked out and tapped tile after tile. His breathing was even. He was confident in his initial assessment. This was… actually quite a bit of fun.

Just as Randidly was trying to use the bottoms of his feet to zero in on the perfect moment, the tiles stopped lighting up and Neveah fell silent. He looked up in shock and was greeted by polite applause from the watching members of Military High Command. Following the lead of his fellow participants, Randidly bowed, but his internal monologue voice was extremely dismissive.

Really, no need to applaud. We all know that those individuals sent out for this first pattern are mainly here to get experience for future Imperium Balls… Most of us weren’t shoehorned into somehow performing a marathon for the pleasure of Military High Command...

While the other participants then left the area, Randidly stayed in his position and waited for five more individuals to come out. The whole time, he kept control of his breathing and focused on the noise of rustling from the canopy of Yggdrasil. He couldn’t see the effect, but he suspected that his hair slowly shifted toward emerald as he flared his image to rapidly recover the mental strength he spent on coping with the last pattern.

Congratulations! Your Skill the Glittering Leaves of Yggdrasil (L) has grown to Level 325!

Congratulations! Your Skill the Glittering Leaves of Yggdrasil (L) has grown to Level 326!

This amount of mental strain is basically nothing to me, Randidly reflected as the other participants got into position on the tiled areas. But since Claudette also has difficulties responding to images that are cold or ice, I’m here for the long haul. It might be overkill, but I need to stay sharp.

Randidly’s eyes flicked to the glowering form of Commandant Wick. I can basically tell from the minute change in his expression that the Commandant is glad that I didn’t fail there… but also that this is not yet enough for him not to hold a grudge… Haaaaah, this is exactly why being weak is exhausting… I have to tiptoe around my superior's feelings...

“Everyone prepared?” The old man asked. Then he clapped his hands twice. “Begin!”

Soon, the second pattern began and Randidly once more focused entirely on keeping track of the brightening tiles in front of him. His Grim Intuition was completely consumed with the tiles, and also with Neveah. Who, somehow, had managed to create rather serviceable images of herself playing different instruments, and was not generating a score to the flowing patterns with remarkable accuracy.

Randidly’s legs and tail flexed outward to an ever more complicated symphony of light and sound.

Still, the increase in difficulty between the first and the second pattern was enough that Randidly didn’t bother to admire Neveah’s masterful use of images for very long. While tile after tile flared to life around his feet and he blurred into motion, the shift in his hair continued. The leaves of Yggdrasil fluttered and absorbed energy, sending waves of cleansing energy down through his entire body that kept him refreshed.

Congratulations! Your Skill the Emerald Leaves of Yggdrasil (L) has grown to Level 327!

For the second pattern, Randidly ended with his shoulders releasing small wisps of steam while the watchers applauded and the performers' bows. Toward the end, he had briefly made a mistake in the release of a counter-image, which resulted in his body falling out of the cadence that Neveah provided. Randidly was able to forcefully keep himself on track by relying on his powerful physical Stats, but it had been a close thing.

Another downside of this version is the lack of scorekeeping… Randidly’s eyes wandered to the old man next to the obelisk, who appeared to be reading something from a display there, although his expression didn’t change. Perhaps… he is checking to make sure we all achieved a passing grade?

Randidly’s attention was soon pulled away from his own concerns by one of the other participants. While the others had dutifully vacated their positions, a horned humanoid in a velvet purple suit kept his gaze on Randidly the entire time. The hard set of his mouth revealed that he didn’t intend to vacate his position.

A tall woman with a snake’s tongue stood at the forefront of the purple faction. She spun a purple parasol covered in flickering stars. “Loas… what is the meaning of this…?”

“Forgive me for my selfishness, Commandant,” The horned humanoid raised his head proudly. “But it is rare that I encounter a peer my own age which can ignite my fighting spirit. Please allow me to continue. When it comes to the Grand Dance… I am confident that no one has more dedication than I!”

A snort punctuated the finale of the youth’s impassioned speech, and Randidly was rather bemused to notice that the source was Commandant Wick, who crossed his arms across his chest and glared at the stubborn member of the purple faction. Tension crackled in the air as the other three factions covered their smirks with their hands at the antagonism.

And strangely, when the snake-tongued woman smiled in response, the air around her chilled. Randidly’s emotional senses buzzed with a tingling sense of fear as he saw her expression. The woman’s tongue undulated lazily in front of her lips before she spoke. “Truly… the young are growing increasingly bold, are they not, Commandant Wick?”

The bearman growled and the woman’s smile widened. Her voice was whisper soft. “And yet… it is enough that there is one insubordinate subordinate, is it not? I’m sure my fellow Commandants agree with me. So whichever of you fails to pass a pattern first… should be put to death. I trust there are no objections?”

“None,” Commandant Wick authoritatively declared.

Randidly pressed his lips together and felt a hint of pity for the horned humanoid who had challenged him. But as he looked over at that man, all his empathy vanished. The member of the purple faction was smoothing his velvet suit and nodding decisively. “No objections! To win honor for you, Commandant, I would risk everything!”

He thinks he will easily win, Randidly’s gut bubbled. He didn’t even flinch at the win or die ultimatum. Because he was raised in the Nexus. Because this is the way that this place is. And this is exactly why I cannot slow down. No matter what stands in my way. This is exactly the attitude that needs to change.

Just as the old man with his cane was opening his mouth to speak, a new voice cut across the ballroom. “Announcing the Leader of the Elite Squad, Raymund Ballast! Joined by the rest of the Elite Squad, fresh from their victory clearing out the Fifth Cohort of the Nether threat!”

The crowd near the entrance of the ballroom parted and allowed the two hundred individuals from the elite squad to walk forward, with the muscular, three-tailed vulpine in the lead. They naturally flowed into the empty space, which was behind Randidly’s tile grouping. Raymund's eyes scanned his former Drill Sergeant. Then the foxman looked around, seeming to take in all of the strange dress of those watching individuals.

Then his gaze came back to Randidly.

And just as Randidly realized the worst-case scenario for what was happening next, Raymund said out loud. “You… are not within the usual factions?”

“I-” Randidly opened his mouth just in time for Raymund to reach up and rip away the heavy grey mantle that he was wearing.

“Obviously, if our Drill Sergeant wishes to found his own faction, we will follow him,” Raymund announced. Behind him, DiOrtho Vant, Jieu Ronault, Vizzeret Clamman, Charlotte Wick… all of the other members of the Elite Squad followed their leader's example and cast aside their affiliation with the dark grey faction. Then, at the very least, Raymund had the presence of mind to bow toward COmmandant Wick. “No offense meant, Commandant.”

“Do as you wish,” Commandant Wick shrugged, and when there were no ominous emotional thunderstorms around him, Randidly’s mood actually brightened. That… went a lot better than expected? Maybe I’ve been believing the Commandant to be a bit more surly than he actually is, just due to our one on one conversations. Now I just need to survive this challenge…

“Wait!” Suddenly the horned humanoid looked worried. He looked beseechingly at his own Commandant. “They… they cannot interfere in our challenge!”

In turn, the serpent-tongued Commandant smiled casually at Randidly. He barely suppressed a shiver. Her attention had a physical presence that oozed across his skin. Aside from the Frost Matriarch, the chilling aura he felt from this tall woman was the most insidious he had ever encountered.

Randidly looked at Raymund. “Have you all done any research on the Grand Dance…?”

“None!” Raymund replied decisively.

Randidly shrugged and turned back to the horned humanoid. “You see? They will not be participating. Your only foe… is me.”

“Ah,” Meanwhile, the old man controlling the patterns had a fond expression on his face. “Following the Grand Dance with your lives on the line… this reminds me of my youth, training underneath the Speculum! Luckily, I was just a bit more attentive than some of my other apprentices, allowing me to comprehend my master’s teachings for a long time…”

This is just entertainment to them… The muscles along Randidly’s jaw flexed.

“Is everyone ready?” The old man looked around. “Let the third pattern… begin!”