“The problem with the Testing Grounds isn’t the environment. Any Summoner worth his salt would avoid the obvious natural perils. The true trouble comes from those Summons our magic can’t easily control.”

- Master Tast

Percy had walked for long enough without encountering anything that he was beginning to lose his patience. He’d plowed through the field and gotten to the other side before realizing anything could’ve attacked him at any time, and he wouldn’t have seen it coming. It wasn’t like hiking in his old world, where the worst you could get was a tick or two.

Then again, he wasn’t even sure if anything here was aggressive. His only encounter had been with that forest imp, and it hadn’t been aggressive, merely annoying. So perhaps all of the potential Monarchs were like that.

Percy just wanted to get rid of the aggravating parchment parasite. He passed by another familiar boulder and wondered if he’d been walking in circles in the woods now. And for how long.

“Just my luck!” he shouted. “I get brought to a magical world and all that happens to me is short-term ear damage?!” He kicked a stone, sending it bumbling down the trail he’d been following and out of sight.

A rumble shook the ground, and Percy tripped. A loud explosion sounded out, not too far away. Did his rage-induced stone kicking do that?

Another explosion and Percy could see movement through the trees. Finally, another creature had appeared! He wouldn’t let this one get away.

Racing down the trail, Percy dashed out into a clearing and laid eyes on a majestic sight. White downy feathers covered the feminine body. Her feet ended in talons, and longer plumage grew out of her head, arcing gracefully backward and down toward her shoulders, giving her the impression of hair. Her hands were clawed, but she didn’t wield them as her weapons. Instead, a straight staff of elegant twisted wood cast focused blasts of energy away from her.

Percy’s bestiary vibrated again, and he quickly pulled it loose, allowing it to flip to whatever page it wanted to. This time, it only turned a couple of pages before the monster’s picture burned itself into the upper right corner of the page, complete with her name and the giant question mark.

#011: Plumeria, Guardian of the Sacred Tree

Percy was in awe. She actually had a name? Percy had only encountered one creature before her, and it had simply been called Little Forest Imp. He supposed that could’ve been its name as well, but figured it was highly unlikely.

Whatever Plumeria was though, it was clear she was powerful, probably far more so than the imp. He was happy now that he’d failed to catch the creature, or it would’ve been his Monarch… though he still didn’t understand the significance of that title.

Clicking the book back to his waist, Percy prepared himself, getting into a sprinter’s position. She hadn’t noticed him yet, instead focused on whatever it was she was doing with those explosions, and he needed to make the most of it.

After taking a couple of deep breaths, Percy launched himself forward, sprinting toward her as fast as he could with his hand outstretched. To his understanding, he only needed it to touch the monster and she would be his.

“Don’t you dare!” a girl’s voice called out as Plumeria turned to look at him. Where her mouth should’ve been, there was only a beak, and her eyes were two large azure saucers. Percy stumbled in her gaze. Had she just… spoken to him?

“This is my Summon!” the girl shouted again before Plumeria turned back around and cast her staff forward, causing the ground to erupt once more. The explosion rocked the earth, and Percy tripped, falling on his bottom.

A girl danced into view, dressed in the same academy clothes as him, but with a skirt supplemented for the pants. Percy now assumed he and all three hundred and twenty-three others would be dressed in the same garb.

The girl’s hair was blonde, tied in a ponytail so as not to get in her eyes as she dodged the bursts of magical force from the monster she seemed to be locked in battle with.

“You’re not stealing this from me,” the girl panted, rubbing sweat out of her eyes. “Not after all the work I put into finding her!”

“I didn’t know she was yours to claim!” another voice called out from the woods as a stocky raven-haired boy strolled into the clearing. He was holding his bestiary open in his gauntleted right hand and smirking as he waved his own parchment parasite like it was a hundred dollar bill he’d just found lying around.

“Ethan!” the girl hissed after coming up from a roll. “You’re not taking her from me!”

Two more boys emerged from the shadows, flanking Ethan on either side. One was tall and slim with black hair, and the other was a short and slightly chubby brunette.

“As I recall Selena,” Ethan announced, “you don’t own her. The first person to touch her with their card gets her.”

Selena growled, which quickly turned into a shriek, then made a mad dash toward the feathered monster, her card extended.

Ethan’s eyes went wide. “Stop her!” he ordered the two boys on his sides. They sprinted toward the girl, dodging explosions as Plumeria cast spells in all directions.

Percy didn’t know what to do. Clearly, the monster had become too dangerous to approach directly, and yet, four people were charging brazenly toward it. Ethan’s henchmen reached Selena, having given Plumeria a wider berth so she wouldn’t attack them directly. Selena, who’d been nearing the feathered monster, was tackled to the ground, screaming in protest as the two boys dragged her back. She kicked and spat at them, but the shorter boy punched her in the stomach, and Selena groaned.

Plumeria was now focused on Ethan, who’d gotten closer. She’d stopped casting explosive magic and was now stabbing at him with a spear of energy extending from the tip of her staff. Ethan grinned, dodging a jab and reaching out to slap her on the wrist with his paper.

Before Percy knew what was happening, he was grabbing Ethan’s shoulders, throwing him to the ground. Apparently, at some point he’d decided to rush the stockier boy. Both of them tumbled to the ground, rolling away from the glowing spear as it stabbed into the earth.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Ethan sputtered out as he wiped blood off his lips with the back of his hand. He seemed disoriented, and his nose was now crooked to the side.

“Yes!” Selena shouted before looking up at her keepers. “Well, what are you doing?” she asked emphatically. “Go help him! That other boy will kill him!”

Dumb and Dumber didn’t seem to consider that for long, letting go of the girl and running around the sides of Plumeria again, straight toward Percy.

Percy’s own eyes went wide, and he turned on his heels, sprinting back into the woods. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see the three boys were pursuing him, and Plumeria was nowhere to be found.

Neither was Selena.

Percy ran as fast as he could; his lungs burned as he tried to lose his pursuers through the trees. But Ethan, it seemed, had recovered enough to chase him down, and he was fast.

He and his tall sidekick swiftly bore down the fleeing boy, and a kick to the back of the knees was all it took for Percy to crash to the forest floor, rolling over roots, receiving bruises all over.

“Thought you’d get away from us, huh?” the tall boy said. Blood still dripped from Ethan’s nose, but he’d shoved a torn piece of his own cloak.

He sneered, “Plumeria was the prime Monarch choice this bout. Bet you knew that. Wanted her for yourself. But instead, you screwed it up for all of us! Now Selena has it. Pah.”

His words were slurred as the blood dripped down his face. He leaned in, pressing a knee to Percy’s chest and wrapping his shirt in his fist, pulling their faces close.

“You’re going to regret letting her have it,” he spat.

Slow footsteps and heavy breathing marked the arrival of the third member of the trio, and Ethan grinned.

“Come on Vince, Pearl, pick him up.”

The newest arrival—Pearl, apparently—nodded and approached, even as she breathed heavily. Her hair was cut short, and she was wearing the same pants as the boys, so Percy had mistaken her for one.

He was hauled to his feet as he struggled, but Vince swiftly amended that, holding up a fist, about to punch him in his gut as Pearl had done to Selena earlier, taking the wind from her lungs, but for some reason, he hesitated, and Percy shut up. The tall boy grasped Percy’s ankles, and the trio carried him face-down through the woods, gagged with another torn piece of cloak—this time, his own.

---

It was some time later—Percy had heard at least four fireworks as he stared at the ground—when the trio stopped. Even though he was furious with them, though, he admired their tenacity. Somehow, none of the three had complained about carrying a 5’8, 135-pound struggling human for all that time. Maybe their anger filled them with adrenaline; Percy didn’t know.

It had gotten warmer, though, and Percy was beginning to sweat. He couldn’t tell if the other three were, though, because of the way they were carrying him. Two arms were locked around his shoulders, and two hands grasped his sock-covered ankles.

“Mmph!” he tried to shout through the rag again, but just as every other time before, the three remained silent. They hadn’t even spoken once since Ethan’s orders. It was like Percy was being carried by zombies.

“Drop him,” were the first words spoken. Ethan, naturally. Percy hit the ground hard. All he could see was Ethan’s savage grin filling his view as the other two tied his wrists and ankles.

“I told you, you’re gonna regret letting Selena have that Summon.” He poked Percy’s face, emphasizing each word. “And even if you’re not gonna get to play against it? Well, you’re still gonna regret that decision.”

With a kick, Ethan sent Percy rolling backward. The blow sent a sharp pain coursing through Percy’s body, and he glared at Ethan through tears as he tried to scream.

Ethan put a hand to his ear, raising his eyebrows mockingly. “What’s that? You said it’s too cold?”

Percy screamed again, his expletives lost through the gag.

Ethan nodded consolingly. “I understand, friend. Don’t worry. I’ll warm you up real quick.”

And with another kick, Percy was sent flying, and he screamed as he tumbled over a cliff.

Ethan watched with satisfaction as the idiot that had stopped him from obtaining Plumeria as his Monarch rolled over the side.

“See you never,” he sneered, smirking. He turned, and lead Vince and Pearl back down the rocky slope, and couldn’t stop himself from chuckling at the mental image of the teary-eyed buffoon. The ground rumbled as people arrived at the testing zone and stage two began. Ethan wanted to miss as little of that as possible. “Come on guys, let’s get away from this accursed volcano.”